Introducing Li Binyuan, one of our judges for The 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Although, you may already be familiar with him as our 2021 Grand Prize Winner. Li was born in Yongzhou, Hunan Province, China in 1985; and graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. His work has exhibited throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, and is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art.

It’s been almost a year since your Grand Prize win in 2021. How has the past year been for you? Are you working on any new projects?

距离您在 2021 年赢得大奖已将近一年了。过去的一年对您来说怎么样？你在进行任何新的项目吗？

This year passed very quickly. The focus of my creation and life has shifted from Beijing to my hometown in Hunan. Since I fell from the waterfall in my hometown in May 2021, I have rested for more than half a year. I launched a new experimental film project this year, a commissioned creative project for a university in Norway, scheduled to be completed in August, with a screening and exhibition at the university in September.

这一年可以说过的非常快，我的创作和生活的重心也从北京转移到了湖南家乡，自从2021年5月份从家乡的瀑布上摔下来，我休息了半年多。今年重新启动了一个新的实验电影项目计划，是挪威的一个大学的委任创作项目，计划8月份完成，9月份会在大学放映和展览。

Having previously participated as a finalist, what has the experience been like joining as a judge this year?

与之前作为决赛入围者相比，今年作为评审是怎样的体验？

It is my honour to participate in the selection process as a judge this year, which has enabled me to understand the selection mechanism of this award more systematically. In my opinion, it is a very fair and mature mechanism; importantly, I browsed all these creative works from artists from different countries and with different cultural backgrounds which also broaden my horizons, and it was a good opportunity to learn and understand.

我非常荣幸今年作为评审参与了评选工作，使我更系统的了解了这个奖项的评选机制，在我看来是一个非常公正和成熟的机制；重要的是我在浏览这些不同国家和文化背景下作者的创作时也拓展了我的视野，更是一次很好的学习和了解的机会。

When reviewing the entries, was there anything specific you were looking for? Were you drawn to any particular themes or media?

在评阅参赛作品时，您是否有任何具体的要求/准则？您会被任何特定的主题或媒介所吸引吗？

I believe that excellent works can reach you from different latitudes, and this artistic feeling will not be affected by a specific theme or medium. Therefore, all works that are expressed with heart and honesty are worthy of respect.

我相信好的作品是可以从不同纬度触及到你，这种艺术感受不会受特定的主题或媒介所影响。因此所有用心和诚实的表达出来的作品都值得尊重。

What are your thoughts on this year’s shortlist?

您对今年的入围名单有什么看法？

I was thrilled to see so many great artists and wonderful works being shortlisted, and my heartfelt congratulations to them all.

我很激动地看到了这么多优秀的艺术家和精彩的作品入围，我衷心地祝贺他们。

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