21 Oct 2009

The Sovereign Art Foundation & The Barbican Centre Announce New Partnership

THE SOVEREIGN ART FOUNDATION & THE BARBICAN CENTRE ANNOUNCE NEW PARTNERSHIP

The Sovereign Art Foundation is delighted to announce a new and dynamic multi-year partnership with The Barbican Centre. For the next three years The Barbican Centre will play host to the annual Sovereign European Art Prize exhibition. This collaboration will commence in June 2010 with The 2009-10 Sovereign European Art Prize exhibition.

This exhibition will showcase thirty of Europe's most exciting contemporary artists, selected by a panel of specialist judges from hundreds of critically nominated artists. This unique and significant prize will find a fitting new home in The Barbican's singular concrete interiors, bringing it to an extensive audience.

This yearly collaboration will extend beyond the Prize exhibition. The Sovereign Art Foundation will be donating a proportion of the proceeds raised from The Sovereign European Art Prize's culminating auction to The Barbican Centre Trust. Through this the Foundation will help enable The Barbican Centre Trust to deliver key arts programmes to local schools and members of the community.

'We are extremely pleased to be working with The Barbican Centre over the next three years. Together we can deliver a great exhibition and series of events, and raise funds to support worthy charitable causes. We look forward to seeing many members of the public at our inaugural show in this fantastic space in June 2010' Howard Bilton, Founder and Chairman, The Sovereign Art Foundation.

'We are really looking forward to our exciting new partnership with the Sovereign Art Foundation. We're very grateful to the Foundation for agreeing to donate some of the proceeds to the Barbican Centre Trust, as this will help us bring our wide-ranging, international arts programme to more young people in East London.' Barbara Davidson, Director of Development, Barbican Centre.


Notes for Editors

1. The Sovereign Art Foundation is a charity registered in Hong Kong and the UK. It was established in 2003 and runs the annual Sovereign Asian and European Art Prizes. The Prizes are visual arts competitions that aim to give recognition to the region's most exciting contemporary artists, bringing together the work of established and emerging artists. For more information visit: www.sovereignartfoundation.com/index.php

2. The Sovereign Art Foundation is a registered UK charity. The Foundation was set up by Howard Bilton, a tax lawyer who turned his art-collecting hobby into what is now Asia's largest art prize. Howard is also the chairman of The Sovereign Group.

3. The first Sovereign office opened in Gibraltar in 1987 and now has offices or agents in all the major offshore and onshore financial centres. This global reach enables them to provide international access from a local point of delivery.

Sovereign's core business is setting up and managing tax-efficient structures to assist wealth management, foreign property ownership and cross-border business. In addition to high net worth individuals and their families, our clients include expatriates, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes. Sovereign also offers a wide range of services which are a natural adjunct to their main activity, including asset management, financing, spe-cialist tax advice and credit cards.

4. The Barbican Centre is one of the world's leading arts centres, founded and run by the City of London Corporation. It provides all the arts - music, theatre, dance, cinema, the visual arts and education - under one roof and one creative direction. For more information visit: www.barbican.org.uk


For press information about The Sovereign Art Foundation, contact: Rachael Hornsby, 020 7389 0555, rachael@sovereignartfoundation.com

For press information about the Barbican, contact: Lorna Gemmell, Communications Manager, Cross-Arts and Corporate, 07789 933 010, lorna.gemmell@barbican.org.uk