Impartial Judging – Cricket Art Prize

To ensure unbiased judgment of a wine, it should be served blind – that is, without the taster(s) having seen the label or bottle shape.  This is referred to as “Blind Tasting”.  A taster’s judgment can be prejudiced by knowing details of a wine, such as geographic origin, price, reputation, colour or other considerations.

So with the Cricket Art Prize, during the initial image pre-selection phase of the competition, all entries will be viewed by the 5 member judges-panel without knowing the name of the artist, to ensure impartial judgment of paintings.

Anneke van der Pal, one of the judges of the Cricket Art Prize stated “With art prizes or art competitions, I feel a “Blind Tasting” approach should be applied as there are charges from some artistic quarters that the final selection of paintings for exhibition are influenced by the ‘name’ of the artist(s)”.

Scientific research has long demonstrated the power of suggestion in perception as well as the strong effects of ‘reputation’, so a judge can be prejudiced by knowing the identity of an artist.

Not even the most experienced judges are immune to the strong effects of celebrity. Therefore, the need for impartial judging is required to ensure a system of fairness and a ‘level playing field’.

So with the Cricket Art Prize, paintings will be judged purely on the basis of subject matter, composition, narrative, technique, execution and aesthetic values.  These characteristics are sometimes referred to as fulfilled intent, skill, uniqueness, inherent meaning and beauty.