Frieze Projects is a programme of artists’ commissions realised annually at Frieze Art Fair. It is curated by Sarah McCrory and, this year, includes nine specially commissioned projects as well as the Cartier Award and collaborations with our 2010 EU partner institution Vector Association (Romania).

The artists commissioned to create these site-specific works for Frieze Art Fair are Ei Arakawa and Karl Holmqvist, Spartacus Chetwynd, Matthew Darbyshire, Shannon Ebner and Dexter Sinister, Gabriel Kuri, Shahryar Nashat, Nick Relph, Annika Ström and Jeffrey Vallance.

This year’s programme of commissioned projects includes elements of performativity – either directly, with performances taking place in and around the fair, or more obliquely, commanding a level of involvement from visitors. Ranging from the spectacular to the intimate, the emphasis is on a direct engagement that will rest upon a series of personal encounters.

The Cartier Award 2010 recipient is Simon Fujiwara. Fujiwara will present Frozen; an installation based on the fictive premise that an ancient lost city has been discovered beneath the site of the fair. Throughout the fair, visitors will encounter archaeological digs, displays of found artefacts and graphic panels describing a historic civilization that was once a hub of art and commerce.

Frieze Projects presents newly commissioned artworks by international artists. Offered as an opportunity to work in a unique context, the artists commissioned by Frieze Projects use Frieze Art Fair as a site to realise ambitious ideas in an exceptional environment.

Frieze Projects is commissioned by Frieze Foundation and presented in association with Cartier. Frieze Foundation is supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union and Arts Council England.