NOBA Award Public Choice prize goes to Lithuania

  • 2022-12-05

International art competition NOBA Award (Nordic & Baltic Young Artist Award) Public Choice 2022 winner is Lithuanian artist Laura Marija Salkauskiene for her artwork Emptiness and energy II. Altogether close to 1800 votes were cast at the public voting with the winner receiving 431. The Public Choice Award includes a 500-euro monetary prize. NOBA Award Grand Prix and Young Painter Award selected by the international jury will be announced in mid-December.

According to Andra Orn, the organiser of the NOBA Award, it is the first time that printmaking has earned the public’s affection. “Emptiness and energy II has been created in 5 editions and we have obtained one also to NOBA.ac’s collection. A few editions are still available to other art enthusiasts,” she adds. 

Laura Marija Salkauskiene has been participating in group exhibitions and plein-air paintings for around a decade. She has also presented soo-exhibitions, including “Matters of (si)liberation” at 5Malūnai gallery in 2021 and “Emptiness, banished thoughts…” at Artifex gallery in 2022. This year she graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts with a Master’s Degree in Graphic Arts. Before entering the art world, she obtained a Master’s Degree in Literary Studies at Vilnius University.  

Read a longer interview with Laura Marija Salkauskiene at NOBA.ac

Altogether 80 artists from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland with 156 artworks are taking part of the international art competition NOBA Award. In addition to the Public Choice award, the  Grand Prix and the Young Painter Award  -  monetary prices of 2000 € and 1000 € accordingly - will be handed out. The winners will be selected by the international jury and announced in mid-December 2022. 

NOBA Award is a unique international art competition in the region that involves young talents at the beginning of their professional career. The competition gathers the best works of BA and MA graduates of five art academies (Estonian Academy of Arts, Pallas University of Applied Sciences, Art Academy of Latvia, Vilnius Academy of Arts and Helsinki Uniarts) to the online platform NOBA.ac, promotes the graduation shows and brings international attention to the graduating students starting their careers.

NOBA Award 2022 international jury consists of the dean of Oslo National Academy of the Arts, art historian and curator Sarah Lookofsky, head of the Art Academy at the University of Bergen Frans Jacobi, associate professor at Umeå Academy of Fine Arts Per Nilsson, rector of Iceland University of the Arts Fríða Björk IngvarsdóttirTaina Erävaara and  DrVesa Taatila from Turku University of Applied Sciences, Cosmoscow art director Simon ReesAnne Klontz from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Andris Vītoliņš from Art Academy of Latvia,  Pire Sova, gallerist of Estonian Art Academy,  Ieva Skauronė, rector of Vilnius Academy of Arts, lecturer at Uniarts Helsinki Harri Monni, Helsinki Art Museum (HAM) and, Helsinki biennial 2020 head curator Pirkko Siitari and Andra Orn from NOBA.ac.