International art prize Artes Mundi slated by newspaper in ‘horror’ review
A national newspaper has printed a no-holds barred take down of the latest incarnation of Artes Mundi – the international art prize which is staged in Wales.
In a damning appraisal The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones described Artes Mundi 11 as ‘smug, stagey, up-itself nonsense for art world wazzocks’.
Awarding the prize one star out of five, he added: “Six international artists vie for the prize – and none of them seem interested in engaging visitors. I had more fun on Llandudno pier’s ghost train.”
The £40,000 Artes Mundi Prize, the UK’s largest contemporary art award, sees new and major works exhibited across Wales as part of the eleventh edition of the UK’s leading contemporary art prize, Artes Mundi.
Artes Mundi 11, presented in partnership with the Bagri Foundation, runs from 24 October 2025 to 1 March 2026, featuring exhibitions at five venues nationwide. , will be announced at a ceremony at the National Museum Cardiff on 15 January 2026.
Much of The Guardian journalist’s issue with Artes Mundi comes from its dispersal around galleries across Wales.
He wrote: “Wales is a divided nation, physically. The mountainous interior that makes it so beautiful creates more distance than you might expect between south and north. I spent the first 18 years of my life in north Wales but never saw the capital Cardiff until I lived in London. My dad used to rage at the Cardiff “crachach” down there monopolising culture.
“Artes Mundi, an international art prize whose shortlist this year boasts “six of the world’s most important international contemporary artists”, appears to have given in to this localism by devolving itself throughout the land. At the National Museum Cardiff, the artists have mini-displays stuffed into one long room, but to see the rest of their work you have to visit their larger shows in four other galleries dotted across Wales. Who is going to do that? And the National Museum show is not exactly appetising. I instantly fell out of love with all the artists, who did not seem to care whether they engaged visitors emotionally, intellectually or aesthetically. Their assumed audience is experts, collectors, cognoscenti – because these, after all, are the people giving the prizes.”
He then goes on to critically appraise each artist, with none appearing to escape his ire.
The review is then brought to a serrated close with the following:
“Worse, it’s all stagey and false. But then the whole of Artes Mundi 11 is like this, at least as much as I could stomach seeing.
“Six of the world’s most important international contemporary artists”? You could almost think the curators have tried to conceal the frailty of what’s on offer by dispersing it all over Wales, daring you to question them, when you haven’t even seen the show in Aberystwyth yet.
“If only the ghost train on Llandudno pier still existed. Now that really was fuel for the imagination.”
We approached Artes Mundi for a response to the criticism of The Guardian’s scathing review and were provided with the following – attributed to Artes Mundi Director, Nigel Prince:
“An important platform of cultural exchange between the UK and global artistic communities, Artes Mundi brings a significant exhibition of contemporary art from international artists to Wales every two years.
“Following the success of the tenth edition which attracted a record number of visitors, for a second time Artes Mundi is presented nationally at venue partners in Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Llandudno providing audiences across the country with the opportunity to engage with artists from different corners of the world, often engaging with local communities here to produce new work that speaks to issues we all face.
“Past editions have seen Artes Mundi work with artists at crucial stages of their careers with many now established figures on the world stage, including John Akomfrah who represented Britain at the most recent Venice Biennale, the most significant international art exhibition.”
The six Artes Mundi 11 artists
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I absolutely agree with Jonathan Jones. Artes Mundi is a complete farce and waste of good money. It takes us all for fools.
Why do you believe that you’re being fooled?
I couldn’t work out if the reviewer wanted “the capital monopolising culture” or “giving in to localism” by sharing it around, or is just always unhappy.
Although I’ve not read the original review as published, the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones, in railing against the somewhat fragmented Welsh population, his position would seem to have favoured the Artes Mundi being spread across Wales rather than located in just one single centre.
I’d have thought that in spreading the exhibition across five sites in Wales this would permit a wider audience to experience the works, as opposed to making it easier for the “experts, collectors and cognoscenti” to assess in one gallery.
Right so lets put it in Cardiff so no one from North Wales will see any of it… oh wait, lets put it in Bangor where no one from South Wales will see any of it. Like much of The Guardian’s culture section they miss the point entirely. The Guardian does some fantastic news and investigative journalism, they do pretty useful articles on money, science, technology… but the culture side of things is frequently dire. This one has spent so long in London he’s gone native and think he’s entitled to everything in one place. That’s par for the course… Read more »