The Sovereign Art Foundation in Hong Kong has announced the 30 finalists whose work has been selected from over 300 nominated entries for this year’s Sovereign Asian Art Prize, the tenth edition of the competition.

The 2013-14 finalists come from Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan.  Many of the finalists have undertaken fine art studies and work in Europe and Australia. You can view the finalists here and vote for your favourite.

The Sovereign Asian Art Prize was initiated in 2003 when the Sovereign Art Foundation was established as a charity in Hong Kong.  The prestigious first prize of US$30,000 cash will be announced at the start of the finalists' exhibition. The "Schoeni Prize", named in memory of the foundation's advisor Manfred Schoeni, is decided solely by public votes cast at the exhibition and through the Sovereign Art Foundation website. The prize carries a nominal award of US$1,000.

After the exhibition the works, other than the first prize which becomes the property of the Foundation, will be auctioned off by Christie's at a charity dinner. 50% of the proceeds of each sale go to the artist and the other 50% goes to the Foundation to be applied to its charitable work.

Image: Jung Lee (Korea), The End, from the 'Aporia' Series