Björk has been tapped as a juror for the fifth version of the CIRCA Prize, an annual award given by London-based arts group Cultural Institute of Radical Modern Arts (CIRCA). Over the following 50 days, CIRCA is accepting entries from artists, performers, poets, activists, architects, sport designers, and filmmakers worldwide, every invited to submit a 2.5-minute movie. The Icelandic musician launched the open name for entries on Could 1st with an excerpt of her new movie Cornucopia, broadcast throughout London’s iconic Piccadilly Circus.
The winner of the 2025 CIRCA Prize will obtain £30,000 ($39,800) to help their inventive follow and understand the Picadilly public fee, which can premiere in 2027. The winner may also obtain a trophy designed by Ai Weiwei. This yr’s version invitations contributors to reply to the theme of “REFUGIA”—which requires the creation of sanctuaries the place life might adapt and develop in an unsure future.
The ecological time period “refugia” refers to locations the place species endure in periods of disaster. CIRCA adapts the time period as a metaphor for cultural resilience, proposing that artists can construct “pockets of refuge,” in accordance with London curator Ben Broome. Amid international precarity, artists are poised to supply house not just for survival however for collaboration and progress.
Björk is one among a number of esteemed cultural leaders who will function jurors for the 2025 CIRCA Prize. These embrace artist Alvaro Barrington, former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, gallerist Ebony L. Haynes, arts patron Nicoletta Fiorucci, inventive producer Michèle Lamy, and CIRCA’s founder and inventive director Josef O’Connor. Extra jurors embrace Hans Ulrich Obrist of the Serpentine Galleries, artwork historian Norman Rosenthal, and Catherine Wooden, director of programme at Tate Trendy.
This September, CIRCA will announce 30 shortlisted artists and have their work exhibited on screens in London and Berlin. Alongside the jury prize, a public vote will decide a second winner. “This is a chance for artists to showcase their imaginative and prescient and creativity on a worldwide stage and we’re excited to see how the following era of artists will interpret the theme of REFUGIA and encourage us all with their work,” mentioned O’Connor.
The 2024 winner of the CIRCA Prize was British Congolese artist Bernice Mulenga. Final yr’s jury included Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramović. Kurdish artist Cemile Sahin received the 2023 prize for her movie 4 Ballads for my Father – Spring (2022).
