HGV Artist of the Year 2024
The Hoteliers and Restaurateurs Association and the South Tyrolean Artists' Association presented the special award for the ninth time
The “HGV Artist of the Year” art prize was awarded for the ninth time on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, during an artists' breakfast at the Parkhotel Mondschein. The Hoteliers and Restaurateurs Association launched the project together with the South Tyrolean Artists' Association with the aim of bringing together two areas that are usually separate in everyday life, art and the hotel and restaurant industry, in a collaboration on equal terms. The prize has been awarded annually since 2016. The jury, consisting of representatives of the Hoteliers and Restaurateurs Association and the South Tyrolean Artists' Association, as well as two art experts, selected this year's winner through a competition. The choice fell on Sarah Solderer. In previous years, the following artists have won the award: Arnold Mario Dall'O, Sophie Lazari, Elisa Grezzani, Robert Bosisio, Josef Rainer, Robert Pan, Ingrid Hora, and Sissa Micheli.
Sarah Solderer impressed the jury with her proposed work Pulëntes (lad. dandelion). An oil painting with embroidery on canvas dyed with dandelion flowers. It depicts a dandelion salad.
Sarah Solderer dedicates her artistic work to a plant that has long been underestimated and labeled a weed, but which has gained greater recognition in recent years: the dandelion. Its development from a bright yellow flower to a dandelion clock symbolizes change and the cycle of life. As a dandelion clock, it evokes many childhood memories and a feeling of lightness. At the same time, the dandelion stands for transformation; thanks to its resilience and resistance, it thrives almost everywhere, even under adverse conditions.
This resilient plant is also an important source of food for bees and other insects. In modern gourmet cuisine, dandelion leaves and flowers are used as ingredients in salads, teas, and other dishes. Its nutrient density and regional availability make it a valued, healthy food. The easy-to-collect wild plant therefore now plays a central role in sustainable nutrition.
In a time of ecological change and climate crisis, the dandelion symbolizes the attempt to find new, innovative ways of living together. Its characteristics—resilience, adaptability, and transformative power—make it not only an important medicinal plant and food source, but also a symbol for the protection and preservation of our natural environment.
The jury commented as follows:
"Sarah Solderer's proposal impressed us as a jury due to the high pictorial quality of the original work and the well-thought-out ideas for a representative edition. By choosing dandelions as her motif, the artist draws attention to the worthy trend of regional cuisine. The hand-added embroidery testifies to a love of detail that is also cultivated in high-quality gastronomy."
“The HGV Prize is a successful example of meaningful collaboration between art and the tourism industry,” says SKB President Alexander Zoeggeler with delight.
The original artwork will become part of the HGV art collection and, in a modified form, will be presented as a special gift from the HGV to selected individuals in an edition of 20 + 2. “We are delighted to interact with the South Tyrolean art scene through this campaign and to draw on the potential of the creative minds in the region,” emphasizes HGV President Manfred Pinzger.
The artist
Sarah Solderer *1993, Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and Master's degree in Eco-Social Design at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. She works as a freelance artist between art and eco-social design in Val Gardena, where she also lives.
