WALES.-Artes Mundi announced the two Selectors for its 2008 Prize and Exhibition and a new sponsorship from Merrill Lynch. Independent curators Olabisi Silva from Nigeria and Isabel Carlos from Portugal will select a Shortlist of eight artists for Artes Mundi 3.

Their task will be to draw up the Shortlist of artists from around the world who represent the best emerging, contemporary talent. Olabisi Silva and Isabel Carlos will consider over 400 nominations submitted by leading curators, artists and arts professional from more than 65 countries, plus their own personal nominations and a series of studio visits. The Selectors have until the end of September to make their decision when the final shortlist of eight artists will be announced.

Isabel Carlos is an independent curator and critic based in Lisbon. She was the Artistic Director of the Sydney Biennale in 2004, On Reason and Emotion, and the curator of the Portuguese Pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale. She was the Founder and Deputy Director of the Instituto de Arte Contemporanea (IAC) in Lisbon between 1996 and 2001.

Olabisi Silva is the Founder and Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos. She was one of several international curators responsible for the artistic content of the Dakar Biennale in 2006. In 2007 she will curate Telling, an exhibition of contemporary Finnish photography, at the 7th African Photography Biennale in Bamako and co-curate the inaugural exhibition of contemporary African Art at the National Museum Mali, Bamako.

Merrill Lynch 's Global Private Client group are sponsoring Artes Mundi for the first time and will support the Selectors' global search and selection process.

The Artes Mundi 3 Exhibition opens at the National Museum Cardiff, Wales on March 15th 2008 and continues until June 8th 2008. The Prize will be awarded in April 2008.