The AWAPAs highlight the vitality of arts publishing in the region and acknowledges the contribution of both emerging and established scholars, curators and artists. The Awards play a pivotal role in promoting the importance of writing and publishing in disseminating knowledge and understanding of the visual arts, craft and design. They are the only prizes in the Australasia region to celebrate the publishing achievements writers make to the field.
Categories for the AWAPAs include prizes for books, exhibition catalogues, artist led publications, Indigenous Australian, Māori and Pasifika art writing.
AWAPAs recognise:
- Originality and rigour of scholarship
- Contribution to knowledge in the area and impact on scholarly debate in the field
- Significance of the topic to the field and to adjacent disciplines
- Significance and originality of arts research
- Quality of the design and production values of the publication
- Ability to convey complex ideas to wider audiences
Entries for the AWAPAs close Friday 21 June, 2024
To enter a publication in the AWAPAs, entrants must be a AAANZ member. Staff affiliated with museums and galleries that have AAANZ institutional membership are also eligible to enter publications. The year of publication for all entries must be 2023.
Eligibility and conditions:
- AWAPAs entries are open to Australian and New Zealand writers and publishers
- Australian and New Zealand writers published by an international publishing company are eligible to enter
- Entrants can be the author, editor or publisher
- Entrants can only be considered for one AWAPAs category
- Entrants must be a AAANZ member or staff affiliated with a museum or gallery that has AAANZ institutional membership
- Nominations can be received by any AAANZ member for the following categories: Best Writing by an Indigenous Australian; and Best Writing by a New Zealand Māori or Pasifika
- Nominations for Best Writing by an Indigenous Australian and Best Writing by a New Zealand Māori or Pasifika can be entered in another AWAPAs category
- Books, catalogues and articles must be published in 2023 to be eligible
- Entries for Best Artist Led Publication: Essay/Catalogue/Book are eligible if they have been published in the previous four years, 2019 ‒ 2023
- Best Artist Led Publication: Essay/Catalogue/Book can only be entered in the AWAPAs once
- Following completion of the online AWAPAs entry form, two copies of each publication are required to be posted to the AAANZ Business Manager
- AAANZ reserves the right to reallocate the selected category
- All articles published in the 2023 issue of the ‘Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art’ will be automatically entered in the Best Scholarly Article category
- AAANZ reserves the right not to make an award in a category if it considers no award is merited, or to make a joint award
- The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into
Prize Categories:
- Best Book
- Best Anthology
- Best Large Exhibition Catalogue
- Best Medium Exhibition Catalogue
- Best Small Exhibition Catalogue
- Best Scholarly Article in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art
- Best Art Writing by an Indigenous Australian
- Best Art Writing by a New Zealand Māori or Pasifika
- Best Artist Led Publication: Essay / Catalogue / Book
- Best University Art Museums Exhibition Catalogue
For eligibility and conditions, prize categories and to enter go to AWAPAs
For further information and queries please contact the Business Manager admin@aaanz.info