Sameen Agha named winner of Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2024

The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) announced Pakistani artist Sameen Agha as Grand Prize winner of the 2024 Sovereign Asian Art Prize for her work A Home Is A Terrible Place to Love, an intricately designed sculpture carved from red marble and incorporating a symbolic reference to home.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, which has grown into Asia’s most prestigious award in contemporary art. Sameen, who was selected by the judges panel from the 30 finalists, received a cash prize of USD30,000 at Art Prize Gala Dinner and Charity Auction, which was held at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong on 17 May.

“I am thrilled and deeply grateful for this recognition,” said Sameen. “This award is a significant milestone for my career, and I am profoundly appreciative and thankful for the acknowledgment and support. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Adeel Uz Zafar for nominating me and believing in my practice. It is a huge privilege to showcase my work on the prestigious platform provided by The Sovereign Art Foundation.”

Prior to the event, all the artworks were on display at 9/F, H Queen’s for the Finalists’ Exhibition from 8 to 16 May. Except for the Grand Prize winner, they were then auctioned at the Gala Dinner, with the proceeds split evenly between the artists and SAF’s charity programmes. The evening raised over USD220,000 in artwork sales and donations.

During the evening, Michelle Fung of Hong Kong was also awarded the Vogue Hong Kong Women’s Art Prize of USD5,000 for her work, Red Bean Stalk, an original wood carving that reflects the culmination of drawing and printmaking work spanning two decades.

Demet of the Philippines was further awarded the Public Vote Prize of USD1,000 for his work, PPE, Paint Palette Emulation, an oil painting that employs techniques of hyperrealism and trompe l’oeil. This was chosen by visitors to the Finalists’ Exhibition and by members of the public voting online for their favourite work.

The funds raised by the Prize will go to support SAF’s Make It Better (MIB) programme, which has been providing expressive arts workshops for children living in Hong Kong’s most disadvantaged communities since 2013.

The MIB workshops are run by a professional team of registered art therapists to support the social, emotional and behavioural challenges of children with special educational needs including autism, ADHD and other specific learning difficulties. The MIB programme currently serves over 150 beneficiaries weekly and has also been recently expanded to provide education, training and support to the children’s caregivers and social workers.

During the Finalists’ Exhibition, a special workshop was arranged for a group of children from the MIB programme, which was led by Hong Kong-based finalist Doris Chui Suet Wai.

A board of 55 independent art professionals nominated artists from 15 countries and regions across Asia-Pacific for the 2024 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, from which the 30 finalists were selected by a judging panel chaired by writer, curator and museum director, David Elliott.

The other judges comprised: Executive Director and Curator at Para Site in Hong Kong, Billy Tang; artist and former Prize winner Debbie Han; independent curator, critic and policy analyst Marian Pastor Roces; and artist and winner of the 2023 Prize edition Parul Gupta.

The Sovereign Art Foundation would like to thank all those who made this year’s Art Prize possible, including venue sponsor H Queen’s, Women’s Art Prize partner Vogue Hong Kong, Grand Prize sponsor Sovereign Group, auction partner Christie’s, media partner The Financial Times, cultural communications partner Sutton, and drinks sponsors Links Concept wine merchants, Louis Roederer champagne and Howard’s Folly wines.

We would also like to thank all our auction partners who donated prizes to the auction: Château De Pommard and Links Concept; Pavilions Hotels & Resorts; Gaiole and Relish; Nikola Zajelac; 67 Pall Mall wine club; Howard’s Folly wines; and The Caviar House.

Finally, SAF would like to acknowledge the fantastic contributions of Bloomsixteen, Bordeaux, Vivino, Visualize, Thinkphotos, Synergy, DASH water, Chew & Chill and Burts.