Intro

The Austrian artist and filmmaker Oliver Ressler has been selected for the 1st Prix Thun for Art and Ethics Award. This new art prize, endowed with CHF 25,000, aims at promoting artists who support a sustainable world.

The prize in the form of an art project was initiated by the artist George Steinmann who grew up in Thun. The art prize emphasises the relevance of dialogue and cultural sustainability in Steinmann’s work method.

Besides George Steinmann, the expert jury consists of Jürg Neuenschwander, film director and producer, Bern and Paris; Peter Schneemann, professor at the Institute for Art History, Bern; Jean Ziegler, professor and sociologist, Geneva; Helen Hirsch, director of Kunstmuseum Thun and Marianne Flubacher, head of the cultural department of the City of Thun. The jury proposed 12 artists from eight countries and decided on Oliver Ressler to receive the first prize. The prize is endowed with CHF 25,000.

Oliver Ressler (born in 1970 in Knittelfeld, Austria, lives and works in Vienna) is an artist and filmmaker who produces installations, works in the public space and films on topics such as economics, democracy, forms of resistance and social alternatives. His works have been shown in more than 60 solo-exhibitions – among others in the Shedhalle Zurich (2014).

 www.ressler.at

The 1st Prix Thun for Art and Ethics will be officially awarded on 1 September 2016, at 6.30 pm: Konzepthalle 6, Scheibenstrasse 6, 3600 Thun, Switzerland. The event is open to the public.