SINGAPORE — For his contributions to the Indonesian art scene, contemporary artist FX Harsono became the first recipient of the Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art. The 67-year-old bested six other nominees from the region, including Singaporean artist Lee Wen, for the inaugural accolade jointly presented by Art Stage Singapore and the United States Embassy in Singapore at an awards ceremony held last night at the residence of the US Ambassador to Singapore.

Harsono was lauded for playing an important role in his country’s burgeoning art scene for the past 40 years. His nomination cited his installations and performance works that tackled “pro-democracy dissent… (and) the experiences of ethnic minorities”. One his earlier works, Voice Without A Voice/Sign, comprised screen prints of sign language spelling out “Demokrasi”, with the “I” represented by a bound hand.

Aside from Harsono and Lee, other nominated artists were: Aye Ko (Myanmar), Manit Sriwanichpoom (Thailand), Nadiah Bamadhaj (Malaysia), Pablo Baen Santos (Philippines) and Svay Sareth (Cambodia). The award, which is named after the first US Consul General to Singapore, comprises a trophy, a certificate and a US$5,000 (S$6,689) grant.

Meanwhile, Singaporean artist Donna Ong and Singapore-based Malaysian artist Sherman Ong won in the Installation and Photography categories, respectively, at the Prudential Eye Awards 2015, which also took place last night at the Sands Theatre in Marina Bay Sands.

The second edition of the awards, which recognises the best emerging contemporary artists from Asia, featured 18 artists across six medium-based categories.

Japanese collective Chim-Pom was named Overall Emerging Artist for the digital/video category. Other winners included India’s Mithu Sen (drawing), Indonesia’s Christine Ay Tjoe (painting) and Korea’s Meekyoung Shin (sculpture).

Also among the nominees was Singaporean artist Genevieve Chua for the drawing category.

The winners of each category will receive US$20,000 and a trophy, while the overall winner will get an additional US$30,000 and a chance to hold a solo exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery.

Chinese artist Gu Wenda also received the Prudential Eye lifetime achievement award, one of the six special awards handed out at the event.

Other awardees, for their contribution to Asian contemporary art, included: FuturePerfect (best gallery), No Country: Contemporary Art For South And South-eastAsia (best exhibition), Viet Le (best writing) and Asia Art Archive (best institution).

An exhibition of the shortlisted artists is currently at the ArtScience Museum, along with a special survey show — called Prudential Singapore Eye — which showcases works by Singaporean artists.