The Chinese Art Prize (CAP) is the most prestigious and important Chinese contemporary art award to focus on emerging Chinese painters. The aim of the Chinese Art Prize is to encourage and promote young talented Chinese contemporary artists and to give them the recognition and exposure that the best young artists deserve. The Chinese Art Prize was created and is operated by Art Scene China.
The judges of the Chinese Art Prize are heavyweights in the art world. The jury president, Gerard Goodrow, is the former Director of Art Cologne in Germany, one of the most important annual art expositions in the world. Members of the jury include Jeff Kelley, Curator of the Asian Art Museum in California, USA, and well-known Chinese contemporary artist Zhong Biao.
With such an experienced and well-qualified jury, the Chinese contemporary artists selected by this panel are truly among the top young emerging artists in China. The jurists select the artwork based on their years of experience with art internationally and judge the work purely on the merits of the work itself. No “guanxi” (or connections) is required for the Chinese Art Prize. Also, artists are not required to pay any entrance fees or hidden fees to participate. The CAP is fair and open to all young Chinese painters.

Art Scene China is one of the most famous and earliest established Chinese contemporary art galleries, with over 10 years experience. Art Scene China has galleries in Shanghai and Beijing and regularly participates in art expositions internationally, such as Art Cologne, Art Miami and Art Chicago. Art Scene China also cooperates with galleries and museums worldwide. The Gallery has more than 2 1/2 years' experience organizing an art award. Art Scene China created and organized the Dragonair Emerging Chinese Artist Awards (DECAA), from 2004 – 2006 (Dragonair was taken over by another airline in 2006).
“There are so many talented artists in China nowadays”, said Sami Wafa, Director of Art Scene China, “yet only a few of them have had widespread national and international recognition. The Chinese Art Prize will give talented emerging Chinese artists important recognition and will allow their artworks to be seen throughout China and the world.”

Chinese contemporary art has received much attention internationally lately through the media and exhibitions. However, there is currently only a limited pool of Chinese contemporary artists that is getting virtually all of this international exposure, whereas there are officially over 1 million artists in China today. The Chinese Art Prize (CAP) has proven and continues to show that there are many more Chinese artists, apart from the small group of famous ones, who are extremely talented and who deserve recognition.

Jury President - CAP 2008:
Gerard Goodrow, former Director of Art Cologne

Members of Jury - CAP 2008:
Jeff Kelley, Curator, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, USA
Zhong Biao, contemporary Chinese artist
Sami Wafa, Director of Art Scene China, Shanghai & Beijing
Other jury members will also be included

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The Gold and Silver prizes will be selected by the jury in Shanghai in December 2008. The Viewer's Choice Award winner will be selected by the guests invited to the exhibition on December 1.

* Cash prizes are before tax

The concept for the Chinese Art Prize was created by Art Scene China in 2003. The art prize itself was created in 2005 and was operated by Art Scene China, with the aim of encouraging and promoting emerging Chinese painters. The Chinese Art Prize was originally sponsored by Hong Kong's Dragonair and was called the Dragonair Emerging Chinese Artists Award (DECAA). In 2006, the airline was purchased by another airline. The Chinese Art Prize is now independently operated.