Visual artist
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen
Who are we and where do we belong? Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen's works have persistently investigated these very fundamental questions. From the early 00s, she has questioned our perception of ethnicity, identity, gender, social relations and belonging. Despite this universality, her many years of production have always appeared remarkably current. This is due to a fabulous sense of timing and openness to the outside world.
Over time, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen has developed a significant and cross-aesthetic performative expression, which she herself calls an "elongated form of activism".
From almost anthropologically investigative videos with the participation of family members and a series of reenactments of internationally famous performances, to Afghan Hound from the Venice Biennale in 2011, and Being Human Being in Nikolaj in 2014, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen has with a unique sober ability and great energy managed to transform a personal bodily investment into a sharp political statement that provokes and touches us with equal parts seriousness and playfulness.
In recent years, she has shown that she has mastered the challenging discipline of incorporating performance into larger installation and sculptural constellations, so that they also function as complete exhibitions. Relevantly critical, full of humor and commitment, politically and poetically, she now stands alone in Danish performance art.
For this strong and generous work, Lilibeth Cuenca is awarded the Rasmussen Thorvaldsen Medal.