Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival announces new photography award and launches public contest for 2010

TORONTO, March 31 /CNW/ - The world's largest photography festival has a new partnership with Scotiabank as the event's title sponsor. At a news conference this morning, Scotiabank and CONTACT announced the festival's renaming to Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, and introduced the Scotiabank Photography Award for 2011 - the largest photography award for Canadian contemporary photographers.

"At Scotiabank, we pride ourselves on our commitment to art, culture and heritage in the communities where we live and work here in Toronto, across Canada and around the world, and art is a key area of focus for us," said Scotiabank President and CEO Rick Waugh. "We are very proud to assume title sponsorship of this year's festival, after several years of sponsoring the primary exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) and featuring photography in our own Banking Hall throughout the month-long festival."

The title sponsorship announcement today also introduced the Scotiabank Photography Award - the largest photography award dedicated to recognizing Canadian contemporary artists working in photography. Launching in September 2010 and to be awarded in 2011, the award will consist of a $50,000 cash prize, a pre-negotiated book publishing contract by internationally acclaimed photographic art publisher, Steidl, activated with the approval of the award recipient and Scotiabank, and a feature exhibition in the following year's Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. World renowned Canadian photographer Ed Burtynsky will chair a panel of three jurors for the award in 2011.

"Canadian photography has reached a level that deserves to be recognized here in Canada, after all, photography - like all visual art - is about communication," said Jane Nokes, Scotiabank Director of Corporate Archives and Fine Art. "Through the Scotiabank Photography Award, we are helping engage Canadians in the photographic art scene and reward outstanding photographers for their contributions, and further support their careers."

Beyond title sponsorship and photography award, this year's Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival will invite the public to enter an online contest to win a limited edition print by Ed Burtynsky from the Australian Mines series. Starting April 1st and throughout the month-long festival, the public can enter at www.scotiabankcontactphoto.com.

"This new partnership with Scotiabank represents a massive step forward for CONTACT," said Darcy Killeen, Executive Director, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. "Scotiabank has demonstrated their leadership in Canadian photographic arts, and through this partnership we will be able to support galleries, museums and all other venues in Toronto and across Canada in their efforts to attract the public to view the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival."

About CONTACT
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CONTACT, a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1997, is generously supported by Scotiabank, Tourism Toronto, BMW Group Canada, TVO, Fashion Television, Vistek, Torys LLP, Pattison Sign Group, Sony of Canada LTD., Heineken, Transcontinental PLM, Toronto Life, The Gladstone Hotel, The Drake Hotel, Thompson Hotels, 3M Canada, Genstar and Beyond Digital Imaging. CONTACT gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan, Celebrate Ontario, Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the City of Toronto through Toronto Arts Council. CONTACT fosters and celebrates the art and profession of photography with an annual month-long festival in May and newly initiated year-round programming in the gallery. For more information, visit www.scotiabankcontactphoto.com (live April 1st).

About Scotiabank
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The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is the most recent sponsorship for the Bank in the area of art, culture and heritage. Other partnerships include Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Scotiabank Caribana and recently in Montreal, Art Souterrain. Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for its charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2009 the Bank provided about $39 million in sponsorships and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives, primarily in the areas of healthcare, education, social services, sports and arts and culture. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com