On April 27th, a new contemporary art competition was launched in the UK. The name of the prize is "Sequestrated Prize" (Sequestrated means quarantined), and it is named after the contemporary society that is suffering from the disaster of the new coronavirus (COVID-19). The prize, initiated by artist W. K. Lyhne and art curator and advisor Fru Tholstrup, was created as an open call for established and emerging artists with the intention of creating a platform to fight against the current torment of the new coronavirus. The application rules are as follows. Applicants must be current art students or have graduated with an art degree in the past 20 years. The work must be a self-portrait. The size of the work must be within 1.5m in height and width. The deadline is June 30, 2020. Works must be submitted online. A maximum of 15 winners will be selected, and the winning works will be exhibited and sold at the Tristan Hoare Gallery for one week. 10% of the proceeds will be donated to official charities, and 10% will be used to cover the costs of the exhibition. The art market is suffering, but at the same time, artists can develop opportunities for self-reflection," the founder announced. Whether or not this initiative will commit to maintaining the industry's motivation or stagnating the market remains to be seen. But as it stands now, at least the players who are in a position to support the contemporary art market and industry must act for improvement. Also, although the competition claims to be "open to all," it is only open to those who are over 18 years old and reside in the UK. I guess there is always a "but" in everything. Paragraphs Reference: https://www.thesequestedprize.com/