Karrabing Film Collective Wins 2021 Eye Art & Film Prize

Founded in 2008, the Karrabing Film Collective, an indigenous Australian art group from the Northern Territories, has been honored with the 2021 Eye Art & Film Prize. This award, a partnership between the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam and the Paddy and Joan Leigh Fermor Arts Fund, includes a £25,000 grant for a new film project. The premiere is scheduled for 2022 at the Eye Filmmuseum, alongside works from former laureates Meriem Bennani (2019) and Kahlil Joseph (2020). Comprising around 30 members, the collective engages in grassroots activism through cinema. Their 'rich work' was commended for establishing 'a strong emotional connection, although always playful,' and their innovative 'nonlinear narratives' are seen as transformative. Karrabing's 'improvisational realism,' filmed with handheld devices, critiques interactions with corporate and governmental bodies. The collective has showcased its work globally at venues such as Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and the Jakarta Biennale, and had a retrospective at MoMA in New York. This marks the seventh iteration of the Eye Art & Film Prize, which champions artistic innovation in the intersection of art and film.