Asia is home to rich textile traditions. Its textile art is generally seen as an applied art, and textile artists are often equated with weavers, tailors or knitters. However, Asian artists increasingly turn to textiles to honour traditional craftsmanship while addressing historical narratives and current global urgencies, such as pollution and waste, pioneering a new dimension of textile art.

The ANTEPRIMA x CHAT Contemporary Textile Art Prize aims to encourage and promote artists with Asian connections who offer new insights into textile materials, techniques and history. In the inaugural edition, eight curators from different countries who have a deep understanding of Asian contemporary art nominated four artists each. An international jury of five esteemed members then selected eight finalists based on five criteria: potential, originality, skill, idea and methodology. The jury judged the finalists’ works on site and announced the winner on 29 November. During the exhibition, visitors are also invited to vote for their favourite artwork in the Audience Prize.

Presented in partnership with ANTEPRIMA, this exhibition showcases the works of the finalists and celebrates the expressive power and intrinsic significance of textiles. We hope the one-of-a-kind prize will stimulate artistic talents and create future possibilities of textiles.