Franc Archive wins first Noorderlicht Award
Noorderlicht presents the first Noorderlicht Award to Franc Archive. The prize is for graduation students of the Minerva Academy and the Frank Mohr Institute. With the Award, Noorderlicht supports the graduating talents of the 2024 batch by offering them a springboard: the winner will receive 1,000 euros to realise the work at Noorderlicht. The professional jury consisted of Roosje Klap (director Noorderlicht), Rosa Wevers (guest curator Noorderlicht) and Wim Melis (chief curator Noorderlicht).
The Noorderlicht Award will be presented every year from 2024 to one of the graduating students of the Minerva Academy and the Frank Mohr Institute. The Award recognises and celebrates groundbreaking lens-based media that bring together art, society and technology, while encouraging innovation and diversity in our ever-changing world.
Nominees
Roosje Klap, director Noorderlicht: ‘The graduates have shown us how rich the medium of lens-based media can be. From performance to video, and from installations to ceramics: the work transcends disciplines. We were impressed by the level of the works, with themes of identity, society, craft and heritage playing a major role.’
The other nominees from the 2024 batch were (in alphabetical order):
- Anna van der Veen
- Annika Hardy
- Blanca Hiemstra
- Brecht Kuiper
- Franc
- Indy YuQian
- Isabela Manea
- Jens Buis
- Lieske Weenink
- Mel Morales
- Noa Bakker
- Sverre van der Velde
- Tessa van Merle & Deborah de Graaf
- Zoya Taseva
Winner Franc Archive
With the work “Breaking the News”, alter ego Franc takes the viewer into the world of algorithms and social media, showing how the digital space has become a crucial part of the public sphere. Using templates from mainstream press media on social media, “Franc” presents news headlines with manipulated photos, creating radical socio-political commentary. This project began on Instagram (@franc.archive), where Franc tricked the algorithm to avoid censorship and allow videos to get a lot of attention. The exhibition displays more than a hundred generative news items in an arrangement with some 20 screens suspended in scaffolding. “Breaking the News” shockingly shows how algorithms determine what news we see. The multimedia installation is visually cast-iron, emotionally and technically impressive, and conceptually lucid. Unforgettable is the image of Franc smashing a screen with a crowbar and disappearing into the world behind the Instagram post.
An honourable mention goes to Indy YuQian from the Academy of Pop Culture (part of Academy Minerva) in Leeuwarden for her multimedia project “Fragments of Identity,” consisting of photographic prints and video mapping on porcelain sculptures. This work connects her personal history to a larger story of identity and migration, with images that are both vulnerable and strong. YuQian opens dialogues, breaks down prejudices and creates awareness by combining disciplines such as sculpture, fashion, photography, film and augmented reality. Her art tells thoughtful stories full of symbolism and explores contrasts and similarities in modern society.
The Noorderlicht Award was presented on Tuesday 17 June. Franc Archive’s work can be seen this autumn at the ‘Pixel Perceptions’ exhibition at Noorderlicht and the Akerk, from 18 October 2024 to 18 January 2025.
