Antonio Paucar, a Peruvian artist born in 1973 in Huancayo, has been named the winner of the 11th Artes Mundi Prize, receiving £40,000 from the UK-based biennial contemporary art award. The announcement came on January 15, 2026, at the National Museum Cardiff, where Paucar’s works form part of a group exhibition running until March 1, 2026, across five Welsh venues.
Paucar, who lives and works between Berlin and Huancayo and previously worked as a beekeeper, creates performances, sculptures, and videos rooted in his indigenous Andean heritage. His Artes Mundi presentation includes large-scale hand-woven alpaca wool sculptures like Illapa (2021) and La Energía Espiral del AYNI II, alongside performance videos such as Suspendio en la Quenua (2014) and a new site-specific piece at Mostyn in Llandudno featuring clay imprints from a handstand performance.
Jury Citation and Themes
The jury praised Paucar’s “unique artistic language” for its long-term engagement with local communities and environments, addressing indigenous conflicts, environmental threats like mining in the Huaytapallana range, and glacier retreat. In El Corazón de la Montaña (2018-19), Paucar used his blood to inscribe a Wanka Quechua phrase—”The heart of the sacred mountains is weeping blood”—highlighting ecological damage in sacred Andean sites.
Paucar plans to use the prize to restore his grandparents’ adobe home in Peru’s central highlands into a museum and art school, as Huancayo lacks such facilities.
Exhibition Context
Paucar was selected from six international nominees, with Sancintya Mohini Simpson receiving the Derek Williams Trust Purchase Prize for works acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. The Artes Mundi 11 exhibition emphasizes themes of loss, memory, migration, trauma, and environmental cost through solo shows at Mostyn, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Chapter Arts Centre, and the group show at National Museum Cardiff.
Cover Image: B&W Portrait of Antonio Paucar, 2020. Photography – Jorge Jaime Valdez
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
