Artists from emerging-market nations submitted entries in art, fiction, and film
More than 790 submissions from 60+ emerging-market countries

OppenheimerFunds and the Financial Times today announced the finalists for the 2016 FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Awards. For the second year, artists from emerging-market nations were chosen in the categories of art, fiction and film. The finalists in each category were chosen from longlists of 10 entrants in each category, who in turn were selected from more than 797 entries from 64 emerging-market countries.

“It was an exciting experience to be a part of the judging process for the second year in a row,” said Michael Skapinker, associate editor of the Financial Times and chair of the judges. “It was an honour for me and our panel of judges to have the opportunity to examine the work of these gifted artists and we are thrilled now to be able to share that talent.”

The winners in each category will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on September 26 in New York City. All shortlisted artists will be invited to attend and winners will receive a $40,000 award. Two runners-up in each category will receive a $5,000 award.

“The quality of submissions we receive each year from emerging artists around the world is truly stunning,” said Justin Leverenz, Director of Emerging Market Equities at OppenheimerFunds and Founder of the Emerging Voices Awards. “In our day to day work we look to identify undiscovered opportunities as part of our Emerging Markets investment philosophy. What a pleasure it has been to discover such incredible artistic talent and to have created a platform to showcase it on a global stage.”

The panel of judges for each of the three categories reviewed the submissions to find the artists whose work best demonstrates outstanding talent and exemplifies their art form and the voice of their region.

Fiction Finalists:
  • The Seventh Day by Yu Hua, Pantheon Books, China
  • Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, Verso Books, Indonesia
  • The Four Books by Yan Lianke, Chatto & Windus, China
Film Finalists:
  • Solon by Clarissa Campolina, Brazil
  • Olia by Tania Cattebeke, Paraguay
  • Impressions of War by Camilo Restrepo, Colombia
Art Finalists:
  • Noor Abuarafeh, Jordan
  • Syowia Kyambi, Kenya
  • Gareth Nyandoro, Zimbabwe

For more information, visit ft.com/emerging-voices or follow the conversation on Twitter at #EmergingVoices.

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The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation in excess of 800,000. Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving more than half of total traffic.

OppenheimerFunds, a leader in global asset management, is dedicated to providing solutions for its partners and end investors. OppenheimerFunds, including its subsidiaries, manages more than $217 billion in assets for over 13 million shareholder accounts, including sub-accounts, as of June 30, 2016.

Founded in 1959, OppenheimerFunds is a high conviction asset manager with a history of providing innovative strategies to its investors. The firm’s 16 investment management teams specialize in equity, fixed-income, alternative, multi-asset, and factor-weighted-ETF strategies. OppenheimerFunds and its subsidiaries offer a broad array of products and services to clients, who range from endowments and sovereigns to financial advisors and individual investors. OppenheimerFunds and certain of its subsidiaries provide advisory services to the Oppenheimer family of funds, and OFI Global Asset Management offers solutions to institutions. For more information, visit oppenheimerfunds.com.

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