Open Call: Hyundai Blue Prize+ 2025 for Emerging Curators

In today’s ever-changing landscape, curators play a crucial role in examining contemporary cultural, sociopolitical, and technological transformations, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, and shaping critical discourse. Established as a laboratory for curators to explore the pressing issues of our time, Hyundai Blue Prize+ encourages the pursuit of boundless perspectives in connection with the context of Asia. Emerging curators worldwide who engage with the context of Asia are invited to submit exhibition proposals for Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing as part of the Hyundai Blue Prize+ 2025 open call.

Applicants must submit a curatorial statement, a proposed list of artworks, a preliminary exhibition design, a budget plan, and a framework for public programs linked to the show. The proposed exhibition should be designed for the gallery space on the second floor of Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing, with the consideration that it will be on view for at least five to six months. Applications are open to individual curators or collectives, and the deadline is June 8, 2025.

Initiated in 2017 by Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Blue Prize has previously supported emerging curators through Hyundai Blue Prize Art + Tech in China and Hyundai Blue Prize Design in Korea. In 2025, the initiative evolves into Hyundai Blue Prize+ as it expands its scope to transcend boundaries, cultivate interdisciplinary research, and stimulate transcultural conversations.

Hyundai Blue Prize+ 2025 is led by an international jury panel including Jochen Eisenbrand, Chief Curator, Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein); Carol K. Huh, Associate Curator of Contemporary Asian Art, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC); Frances Morris, former Director of Tate Modern (London) and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Ewha Womans University (Seoul); Christiane Paul, Curator of Digital Art, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York); and Philip Tinari, Director, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing). 

Following the open call, five curators or collectives will be selected for the shortlist and receive one-on-one mentorship with the jurors, a research tour in China, and a $4,000 USD grant to develop a final proposal. Two final awardees will present their exhibition at Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing with up to ¥800,000 RMB (approximately $110,000 USD) for production and implementation, as well as additional support for on-site operations, marketing, and communications.

The application is open through June 8, 2025, 11:59pm CST (GMT+8). 

To learn more, visit hyundaiblueprize.com.