.ART Launches A New Global Award Celebrating The Story Behind An Artwork

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ --.ART Registry, operator of the digital address for the global arts and culture community, has announced the launch of a new opportunity for artists worldwide, the Award. Open to artists across all geographies, backgrounds, and mediums, the Award shifts the focus from finished artworks to the creative process itself. Instead of submitting a traditional application and a finished work, to apply for the Award, artists are invited to share a more holistic view of themselves, their process, and their art through a.ART domain linked to a website, portfolio, or even a social media profile. Their domain becomes a living, evolving record of how an artwork takes shape, from concept and research to material and form. Applications are submitted via .

At a moment when digital presence is inseparable from artistic practice, the Award positions the artist's online identity not as documentation, but as an extension of the artwork itself, structured and self-authored.

“The value of an artwork has never lived in the object alone, it lives in the information surrounding it: the process, the context, the artist's voice. For ten years,.ART has been building the infrastructure for artists to archive their own practice. With the Award, we are launching the only global prize designed to honor exactly that,” said Ulvi Kasimov, Founder and CEO of Registry.

The award offers a range of prizes supporting both artistic development and long-term visibility, including a $15,000 Grand Prize, residencies at Château du Fresne in France and Anfitrion in Marbella, Spain, a major editorial feature in Whitewall Magazine (the Award's media partner), and a premium domain valued at $10,000. Additional prizes will be announced.

Marking's 10th anniversary, applications open on Monday, May 11, 2026 and close on November 1, 2026. Semi-finalists will be announced on November 6, followed by finalists on November 20, with winners revealed on December 3, 2026 during Art Basel Miami.

The Jury
The award is judged by an international jury of leading voices across art criticism, curatorial practice, contemporary art, art markets, and digital culture. The 2026 Award jury comprises:

Dean Phelus, Associate Vice President of Learning and Editor in Chief of Museum magazine, American Alliance of Museums.
Jerry Saltz, Senior Art Critic at New York Magazine and 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner.
Sasha Stiles, Poet and artist; co-founder of theVERSEverse.
Gijs Stork, Curator, producer, and co-founder of Château du Fresne.
Akanksha Ballaney, Senior Director of Business Development at Artsy and Artnet.
Laurent Moïsi, Co-Publisher and Editor-at-Large, Whitewall Magazine.
Regina Harsanyi, Media Arts Curator, Museum of the Moving Image.
Shlomi Rabi, Founder, Bridgewell Arts.
Leo Crane, Co-founder, AIFA Ventures.
Irina Tarsis, Founder and Director of the Center for Art Law.

The Award is supported by partners including HUG, IS, whitewall, anfitrion and domain name registrars and resellers worldwide.

About Registry
Launched in 2016 through an exclusive agreement with UK Creative Ideas Ltd and ICANN,.ART began as a pioneering domain registry and is evolving its mission to become the definitive digital archive for all art and cultural objects. With over 700,000 domains registered in 170+ countries,.ART serves a diverse community of creatives, artists, museums, businesses, and brands passionate about the arts.

Setting the standard for digital identity in the art world,.ART offers cutting-edge registry infrastructure built on the reliability and stability of current internet technologies while also leveraging Web3 and blockchain innovations. Utilizing its patented“Digital Twin” process, the new ID platform offers credentialing and a suite of services that empower creatives to digitize, promote, and monetize any object, whether physical or digital. ID and the acquisition of HUG in late 2024 establish Registry as a leading online gallery for artistic talent.

Operating from international offices in London, Beijing, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., and supported by a robust network of global Ambassadors,.ART is steadfast in its commitment to merge technology and art on a global scale. A portion of's revenue actively supports philanthropic initiatives, including the Healing Power of Art Initiative, to promote the therapeutic benefits of art.

Learn more at .

Register domains at or through domain registrars such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, WordPress and others.

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