Artists

Chiara Bersani is an Italian performer and choreographer. Her research is based on the concept of the “Political Body” a body that shapes its meanings in interaction with society’s narratives. Her “manifesto” work of this research is Gentle Unicorn, a performance included in the Aerowaves circuit.

In 2018 she won the Ubu Award as best performer under 35. Her new creation, Sottobosco (undergrowth) explores the relationship between disabled bodies and natural landscapes.

Chiara Bersani is an artist of apap – Advancing Performing arts project – Feminist Future, a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, until 2024.

As an activist Chiara works on the accessibility of disabled artists in the performing arts scene.

www: www.chiarabersani.it/en/performer
Instagram: chiara_bersan

Harold Offeh is an artist working in a range of media including performance, video, photography, learning and social arts practice. Offeh is interested in the space created by the inhabiting or embodying of histories. He employs humour as a means to confront the viewer with historical narratives and contemporary culture. He has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including for example Tate Britain and Tate Modern, South London Gallery, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, MAC VAL, France, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Denmark and Art Tower Mito.

He studied Critical Fine Art Practice at The University of Brighton, MA Fine Art Photography at the Royal College of Art and recently completed a PhD by practice exploring the activation of Black Album covers through durational performance. He lives in Cambridge and works in London, UK. He is currently a tutor in MA Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art.

www: haroldoffeh.com
Instagram: harold_offeh

SJ Norman (b. 1984) is an artist and writer. His practice is counter-disciplinary and formally promiscuous. His body of work to date has included more than 20 works of performance, 1 full length work of fiction, and a significant body of other experimental work spanning sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, drawing and sound.

His awards for art include: the 67th Blake Prize, a 2018 Sidney Myer Fellowship and a 2019 Australia Council Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include the 22nd Biennale of Sydney and the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial. His acquisition history includes major public collections, such as the National Gallery of Australia.

His first book, Permafrost (UQP, 2020) was shortlisted for 7 major literary prizes in Australia, including the Australian Society for Literature Gold Medal and the Stella Prize, and won the fiction category in the 2024 South Australian Premier’s Prize. His other awards for literature include: the 2017 Kill Your Darlings Prize, the 2022 Peter Blazey Prize for Non-Fiction, and numerous placements in the Judith Wright Prize for Poetry.

He is a Wiradjuri Brotherboy (Trans Man) born on Gadigal country, to an Aboriginal mother and a British father. He currently lives and works in Lenapehoking/New York City.

www: sjnorman.net
Instagram: vitreous_lustre

More information

Live Art Prize website: liveartprize.com

Communications Coordinator
Katja Papinniemi, katja(at)antifestival.com
+358 44 726 0056

Managing Director – Lead Curator
Elisa Itkonen, elisa(at)antifestival.com
+358 50 305 2005

Live Art Prize continues: the 2025 shortlist nominations are in!

News11.12.202412.12.2024

The nominees for the 2025 ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art are Chiara Bersani (Italy), Harold Offeh (United Kingdom) and SJ Norman (Australia).

Nominees for the longlist were collected from 14 experts from around the world. The three nominees on the shortlist were selected by a shortlisting committee consisting of ANTI Festival Curators Elisa Itkonen and Season Butler. The shortlisting committee invites the audience to celebrate the unique work of the three nominees:

“These artists create work that lingers and resonates through our imaginations, moving us in the moment of the encounter and long afterwards. We have been deeply impressed by the depth of their historical, social and political engagement through rigorous research and community praxes, which saturate and suffuse the ferocious beauty of their creations.“

See the shortlisting committee’s nominations statements in full.

Each nominee will perform one of their pieces as a part of the Shortlist LIVE! programme at the ANTI Festival in Kuopio between 9 and 14 September 2025. An international jury will select the winner. The performances, the international jury and the schedule for the Shortlist LIVE! programme will be published in spring 2025.

Collaboration with the Saastamoinen Foundation will continue

ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art is the only international live art award in the world. The Prize, which will be awarded for the 11th time, presents, celebrates and supports live art and artists.

The Prize is funded by the Saastamoinen Foundation, which has granted extension funding for the period 2025–2029. In the future, the Prize will be awarded once every two years.

The total value of the International Prize for Live Art is EUR 30,000, which makes it one of the most significant prizes in the arts. The winning artist receives a cash prize of EUR 15,000 and the same amount in the form of a production grant for presenting a new commissioned piece at the ANTI Festival performed two years after receiving the award.

“The festival and the Prize for Live Art, one-of-a-kind on the international stage, brings art to the urban environment for us all to experience in the present moment and space, sometimes where you’d least expect it. It’s an experience that leaves a mark and takes a stand. Last year, the festival was awarded the State Prize for the Social Impact of Art for this very impact it makes in society. It is an internationally significant event in Finland. We are proud of our cooperation in Kuopio and our roots that lie deep in the North Savo region”, says Marja Karttunen, Member of the Board, Saastamoinen Foundation.