LONDON, December 21, 2011 (WAFA) - The prestigious €25,000 Lacoste Elysée Prize, awarded by the Swiss Musée de l’Elysée with sponsorship from Lacoste, the French clothing brand, demanded removal of Bethlehem artist Larissa Sansour from the nominations for the prize, a press release by the artist said on Tuesday.

Sansour, who was born in Jerusalem but currently resides in London, was among the eight artists shortlisted for the 2011 prize.

Lacoste demanded that her nomination be revoked, claiming Sansour’s work is “too pro-Palestinian.” A special jury will convene in January to select the winner.

As a nominee, Sansour was awarded a bursary of €4,000 and given carte blanche to produce a portfolio of images for the final judging. In November, three photos for Sansour’s Nation Estate project were accepted, and she was congratulated by the prize administrators on her work and professionalism.

Sansour’s name was included on all the literature relating to the prize and on the website as an official nominee. Her name has since been removed, just as her project has been withdrawn from an upcoming issue of contemporary art magazine ArtReview introducing the nominated artists.

In an attempt to mask the reasons for her dismissal, Sansour was asked to approve a statement saying that she withdrew from her nomination “in order to pursue other opportunities,” said the press statement. Sansour has refused.

“I am very sad and shocked by this development,” said Sansour. “This year Palestine was officially admitted to UNESCO, yet we are still being silenced. As a politically involved artist I am no stranger to opposition, but never before have I been censored by the very same people who nominated me in the first place. Lacoste’s prejudice and censorship puts a major dent in the idea of corporate involvement in the arts. It is deeply worrying.”

Sansour’s shortlisted work, Nation Estate, is conceived in the wake of the Palestinian bid for UN membership. Nation Estate depicts a science fiction-style Palestinian state in the form of a single skyscraper housing the entire Palestinian population. Inside this new Nation Estate, the residents have recreated their lost cities on separate floors: Jerusalem on 3, Ramallah on 4, Sansour’s own hometown of Bethlehem on 5, etc.

Regretting Lacoste’s decision to censor Sansour’s work, Musée de l’Elysée has offered to exhibit the Nation Estate project outside of the confines of the Lacoste sponsorship. Musée de l’Elysée is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Lacoste Elysée Prize 2011 is the award’s second edition

M.S.