13 May 2026
The Australia China Art Residency (ACAR) Prize is planned for St Leonards, aiming to celebrate and encourage art that embodies the spirit of Australia-China cultural exchange.
This year is the first time the prize has been awarded, with the associated exhibition running until 18 June at the ACAR Arts Centre, 62 Atchison St, St Leonards.
Established in 2024, ACAR is an organisation that aims to foster exchange between Australia and China’s artistic communities. They support artists and curators with funding, mentorship, residencies, and international opportunities.
Now ACAR has announced their 2026 art prize winners with $115,000 of prize money up for grabs amongst the 62 finalists selected.
The inaugural winner was Peter Godwin for his Li River (Pale Peak and Mist) painting. Born from a Nock Art Foundation residency, the work explores the Gui (Li) River landscape in Guilin. Godwin felt an immediate connection to the area, likening its limestone erosion and karst pinnacles to the Hawkesbury River in Australia. Drawing on the concept of ‘anitya’ or ‘wuchang’ (impermanence), the painting captures a metamorphosis of time and beauty. Godwin took home $100,000 for winning the prize.
In the Digital Art Award category Xue Geng took out the $5,000 prize for her Seven-Day Dream, three-screen video. The piece utilises heat-sculpted glass, cinematography, and AI-generated motion to explore an inner landscape. The 23-minute film focuses on the flow of light, following eight glass animal-children through a refractive limbo blending Aboriginal Dreamtime, Celtic mythology, and Eastern thought. Across seven acts, the work depicts a spiritual journey from loss to awakening, emphasising love and wisdom as a universal light.
The winner of the Supernova Award was Ziyuan Shi for Echo. The installation was inspired by the red-earth landscapes of the Northern Territory. The work uses buoyant ceramic forms to reconstitute rocks that float and resonate in water. By merging Chinese ceramic acoustic traditions with the Australian landscape, Shi evokes new perceptions of nature and memory through the sound of these floating “red rocks.”
Xiaoxue Zhang’s installation To install a heart in Taihu rock, Deirdre Bean’s painting Hay #2 Still LIFE and Suxuan Jiang’s video Micro-Nano Landscape, all received commendations.