OLIVIER GRAÏNE NOMINATED FOR THE DÜSSELDORF SECULAR ART PRIZE

BERLIN (SIWEL) – At the end of July, Kabyle monumental sculptor Olivier Graïne was selected from nearly 1,000 entries. His work ‘The Couple’ was one of 91 shortlisted for the ‘DA! Art Award 2024’, Düsseldorf’s secular art prize, which is awarded every two years and aims to inspire artists to engage critically with religion and irrationalism under the theme ’Check your dogma!’

Following an opening on 6 September, 89 works have been on display since 7 September at the City Museum in Düsseldorf, a city known for its fashion industry and vibrant art scene.

The final day of the exhibition, tomorrow Saturday 28 September, will be devoted to the presentation of the prizes by a jury of experts and the public under the aegis of Clara Gerlach, spokesperson for the Cultural Committee, Mayor of the City of Düsseldorf and patron of the ‘DA! Art-Award’ competition.
The ceremony will be broadcast live from 3pm on https://www.youtube.com/live/vx18RPr8xRI

A graduate of Études Supérieures Artistiques, Olivier Graîne is no stranger to international awards, having won the first ‘La Plaine – Fonderie d’Art’ prize in 2014. In 2018, the Taylor Foundation in Paris awarded him the Évariste Jonchère prize for his mastery of the art of statues that are brought to life by remarkable bronze work, His portfolio included a statue of the Kabyle anthropologist and writer Mouloud Mammeri, a statue of the first German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and a bronze medallion of Ferhat Mehenni.

In addition to his sculptural works, whose leitmotif is to evoke emotion, Olivier Graïne was one of the key members of the technical adjustment committee for the democratically elected Kabyle flag, which was officially adopted on 10 March 2015 following a popular consultation held in June 2014.

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To see the 89 works exhibited at the Düsseldorf Municipal Museum