Raed Yassin (Beirut, 1979) is the winner of the first edition of the Tosetti Value Award for photography, in partnership with Artissima 2020. The award, based on the desire to investigate the relationship between art and economics, and to widen the perspective on the real world, is assigned to an artist whose photographic work explores and aims to understand the historical-social and economic situation of our globalised world.
The artist is presented by the gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The jury unanimously awards the first edition of the Tosetti Value Award for photography to Raed Yassin, presented by Isabelle van den Eynde, because his work crosses different disciplines using the medium of photography to merge his personal history with collective memory. Appropriating cinema, music and pop culture in his work, the artist rewrites the history of the Middle-East through his personal lens both as an artist who has lived and grown in Beirut and someone actively engaged in the interpretation and dissemination of art as an intimate and performative social practice.
The Family office is particularly proud of the jury’s choice also because it focuses on Lebanon and its resilient people, an area that is now deeply wounded and has historically played a fundamental cultural, economic and geopolitical role as a bridge between East and West.
An artist and musician, Yassin is a founding member of Atfal Ahdath, a Beirut-based art collective, and one of the organizers of the Irtijal Festival—Beirut’s experimental contemporary music festival. He has released several music albums and founded the production company Annihaya in 2009.
In addition to receiving a financial prize, the winning artist will have the chance to be a part of “Perspectives: the economy of images” with an exhibition project held at the headquarters of Tosetti Value starting in 2021. The collaboration will be completed with the acquisition of a work that will become part of the corporate collection of the Family Office.
ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY
Raed Yassin (b. 1979, Beirut) lives and works in Beirut. He graduated from the Theatre Department of the Institute of Fine Arts in Beirut in 2003, and in 2015 he was awarded a research fellowship at the Akademie der Künste der Welt in Cologne. An artist and musician, Yassin’s work often originates from an examination of his personal narratives and their position within a collective history, through the lens of consumer culture and mass production. One of the organisers of Irtijal Festival–Beirut’s experimental contemporary music festival–Yassin has released several music albums and founded the production company Annihaya in 2009. He is also a founding member of Atfal Ahdath, a Beirut-based art collective. He has exhibited and performed in numerous museums, festivals and venues, including Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2020); Sursock Museum, Beirut (2019); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2014); Kunsthalle Wien (2015); Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) London (2014); Gwangju Museum of Art (2014); Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2014); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2012); New Museum, New York (2012); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2011); and Delfina Foundation, London (residency 2014 and 2010-2011), amongst many. Yassin is also a recipient of the AFAC grant for production (2019 and 2010), Sharjah Art Foundation Project Fund (2014), Abraaj Group Art Prize (2012), Fidus Prize (2009), YATF grant for production (2008 & 2012) and the Cultural Resource grant for production (2008).
Artissima // Artissima is Italy’s leading fair of contemporary art. Since its founding in 1994, it has combined presence on the international market with a vivid focus on experimentation and research. The fair is managed by Artissima srl, a company affiliated with Fondazione Torino Musei. The Artissima trademark belongs to Regione Piemonte, Città Metropolitana di Torino and Città di Torino. The 27th edition of Artissima is produced with the support of the three trademark holders, in collaboration with Fondazione CRT, Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and Camera di commercio di Torino.
