Birgit-Jürgenssen-Prize 2011 awarded to Toni Schmale

Award ceremony | 14.04.2011, 6.00 p.m.
Welcoming speech | Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen, Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Ceremonial address in memory of Birgit Jürgenssen |
Carola Dertnig, artist and associate professor for performative art
Presentation of the award | Gudrun Schreiber, Art Department in the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture

As a teacher and member of various academic boards, BirgitJürgenssen was closely bound up with the Academy of Fine Arts Viennaand, throughout many years, had a determining influence on theinstitution. From the early 1980s on, she was involved in establishingan interdisciplinary platform forging a link between painting andphotography in the context of the master class of Arnulf Rainer and,subsequently, that of Peter Kogler. Until her untimely end, therelationship and contact with her students remained a crucial concernfor her as a teacher.

For her work as an artist which, going far beyond the boundaries ofa single medium, comprises such different forms of expression asdrawing, performance, photography, video, and objects, BirgitJürgenssen received the Federal Chancellery's award in recognition ofher merits as a photographer shortly before her death. She could not bepresent at the award ceremony, and it is thanks to her partner HubertWinter's wish that the amount of 11,000 euros awarded to her wasdonated to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna as a prize for students.

According to an agreement between the Federal Chancellery, theAcademy of Fine Arts Vienna, and Hubert Winter, the Birgit JürgenssenPrize amounting to a sum of 3,000 euros will thus be awarded inremembrance for the artist for the 8th time this year. It is awardedannually to a student of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna for her/hisachievements in the media sphere, taking works of artistic photography,video and (digital) media art into special consideration.

The jury, which comprises Carola Dertnig, Dorit Margreiter, PeterNoever, and Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein, has unanimously decided to awardthis year's Birgit-Jürgenssen-Prize to Toni Schmale.

Birgit-Jürgenssen-prizewinner:

2004: Pirmin Blum
2005: Marlene Haring
2006: Andreas Duscha
2007: Björn Kämmerer
2008: Ulrike Köppinger
2009: Susanne Miggitsch
2010: Nathalie Koger