The deadline for the call, initially scheduled for mid-June, was extended to the end of August at the request of many artists who were struggling to find materials and had difficulty finding workshops and craftsmen to collaborate with. An important theme this year: Endless Aluminium, which recalls the possibility for this metal to be recycled countless times, thus living countless lives, but which simultaneously refers to higher, more profound reflections. After the jurors’ hard work, here we are: we finally have the 13 names!

A few numbers of this ninth edition: out of the approximately 200 entries received, the jurors selected 13 works from Italy, Spain, Germany, and Ukraine; an almost entirely female edition that sees as many as 10 artists participate, and with a significant number of very young participants, as many as four are from 22 to 26 years old.

The final exhibition, which will be held as always at the Spazio COMEL contemporary art in Latina, will be inaugurated on November 12th, while the awards ceremony for the winner of the ninth edition and the winner of the Audience Award will be held on Saturday, December 3rd.

The 13 finalists: Marcella Belletti, Ravenna, Italy – installation; Francesca Bruni, Milan, Italy – painting; Alessandra Catta, Sassari, Italy – sculpture and installation, Chiara A. Colombo Monza, Italy – painting; Elbi Elem, Cordoba, Spain – sculpture and installation; Taras Halaburba, Mlyniv, Ukraine – sculpture and installation; La Manifattura della Mente (Fabio Bini – Myriam Cappelletti), Florence / Terni, Italy – installation; Chiara Marchesi, Lodi, Italy – sculpture; Claudio Marinone, Rome, Italy – sculpture; Alejandra Ruddoff, Berlin, Germany – sculpture; Sonia Scaccabarozzi, Vimercate (MB), Italy – sculpture, Rachele Tinkham, Venice, Italy – sculpture, Sara Vaglini, Montopoli Val d’Arno (PI), Italy – painting.

The jurors: president of the jury Giorgio Agnisola, art critic and writer, emeritus professor of sacred art and cultural heritage at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy. Claudia Palma, Director of the Bioiconographic Archive and Historical Funds of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome; Marilena Vita, artist, performer, curator of events, and art critic, General Secretary Nuova Aica Italia; Michelangelo Giovinale, professor of art history, freelance curator, art critic; Maria Gabriella Mazzola representing COMEL Industrie promoter and sole sponsor of the Award.