The ŠKODA Prize invites three eminent Indians from the field of art to the jury each year. Invitees can be artists, collectors, curators, critics or academics, and we have a mix of disciplines represented in the jury. In the first stage, the three jurors, along with Girish Shahane, Director – Art for The ŠKODA Prize, go through all entries and mark each entry on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest grade. Grant Thornton, our auditors, tally the score sheets and have a representative present at each jury sitting. The top 16 exhibitions automatically qualify for the longlist of 20. Each of the four jurors then nominates one exhibition to complete the longlist. The nomination ensures that any show that even one juror thinks is extraordinary will be represented in our longlist, even if other jurors don’t think as highly of the show.
In the second stage, the four Indian jurors are joined by an international member, usually a renowned curator. Last year, Heike Munder of Zurich’s Migros Museum joined at this stage. The five jurors try to come to a consensus through discussion about which three candidates will make the shortlist. If consensus fails, we determine the finalists arithmetically, with each juror assigning points to prospective nominees. In case of a tie, the chairperson has the casting vote.
In the final stage, Girish Shahane drops out of the jury, and is replaced by our second international juror. Last year, this was Martin Clark, Artistic Director of Tate St. Ives museum. The jurors try to come to a consensus through discussion about who will win The ŠKODA Prize. If they fail to reach a consensus, each juror ranks the three candidates in the order they think appropriate. Grant Thornton’s representative tallies score sheets, and the artists with the lowest score wins. In case of a tie, the chairperson has the casting vote.
We believe no Indian award in any field betters the standard set by The ŠKODA Prize in evolving a transparent, unbiased selection process.
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