Peruvian artist Antonio Paucar has won the 11th Artes Mundi Award, receiving £40,000 to support his performance, sculpture, and video practice rooted in Andean culture and his Peruvian heritage. The award ceremony took place on January 15 at Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum in Cardiff, where a group exhibition of the six shortlisted artists runs through March 1. Paucar plans to use the prize money to convert his family's ancestral adobe home in the central highlands of Peru into a combined museum and art school, addressing the lack of such institutions in the region.
The award matters because it highlights the growing recognition of Indigenous and environmentally engaged contemporary art within major international prizes. Paucar's work, including the film 'El Corazon de la Montaña' (2018-2019), directly confronts ecological destruction caused by mining in the Huaytapallana mountain range, blending personal heritage with urgent political and environmental themes. His plan to establish an independent art school in a remote area underscores the prize's potential to foster grassroots cultural infrastructure beyond traditional art centers.