The video and sound installation This whole time there were no landmines from Lawrence Abu Hamdan is a compelling presentation of a concrete situation: the transgression of the border between Syria and Israel by a group of Palestinians in the region of the Golan Heights on 15 May 2011. The acoustic phenomenon of wandering, amplified voices is indebted to the topography of the valley and lends the work its title. The work itself invokes a larger geopolitical context. The montage of cell phone footage and audio recordings, of the kind regularly used by the media in conjunction with eyewitness reports, generates an apprehensiveness and uncertainty that deeply affects the viewer. The way in which this work combines topographical situation, politically defined borders and concrete infringement of the borders generates a fascinating, interrelated whole. Sound, as the overall, cohesive element, contributes substantially to the urgency of this artist‘s work.

In addition to the cash prize, Baloise acquires a group of works by the award winners and donates them to two important European museums. The works of Lawrence Abu Hamdan were presented to the collection of the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Gallery: mor charpentier, Paris

Jury members:
Marie-Noëlle Farcy, Curator/Head of Collection, MUDAM, Luxembourg; Gabriele Knapstein, Head of Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Nationalgalerie Berlin; Martin Hatebur, Chairman Basler Kunstverein/Kunsthalle Basel; Philippe Pirotte, Rector Städelschule Frankfurt and Martin Schwander, Fine Art Advisor of Baloise, Chairman of the jury.

Zusätzlich zum Geldpreis erwirbt die Baloise Werkgruppen der Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger und schenkt sie zwei bedeutenden europäischen Museen. Die Arbeit von Lawrence Abu Hamdan ging als Geschenk in die Sammlung des Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Nationalgalerie Berlin.

Galerie: mor charpentier, Paris

Jurymitglieder:
Marie-Noëlle Farcy, Kuratorin/Leiterin der Sammlung, MUDAM, Luxemburg; Dr. Gabriele Knapstein, Leiterin Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Nationalgalerie Berlin; Dr. Martin Hatebur, Präsident Basler Kunstverein / Kunsthalle Basel; Prof. Philippe Pirotte, Rektor Städelschule Frankfurt und Martin Schwander, künstlerischer Berater der Baloise, Vorsitzender der Jury.