Jasmina Metwaly wins the Open Prize

Jasmina Metwaly has won the inaugural Open Prize, set up to profile video painting as an independent medium. Metwaly’s work, Crucifixion (2009) consists of a landscape image of a pylon in the Sinai Peninsula, the lines strung out in either direction to suggest a cross. Sinai is a contested area of Egyptian land with a chequered history of conflict and terrorism owing to its historical and geographic connection with Palestine. The artist was picked from a shortlist of ten by the prize jury, critic Ben Lewis, Ziba de Weck of the Parasol Unit, Marc Valli of Magma Books and Hilary Lawson from Artscape Project.