Julio Le Parc, photo courtesy Yamil Le Parc.
The Konex Awards were instituted in 1980 to be annually granted to sow for the future so that the most distinguished contemporary personalities and institutions in every field which compose the cultural spectrum of the nation will be an example to our youths.
Every year it offers those awards in different activities in the nation, in cycles that repeat themselves every ten years. Initially and in the ten-year span from 1980 to 1989, such personalities received awards for their life-time accomplishments. As from 1990 to 1999 the accomplishments to receive awards represented the last ten years of activity. From the year 2000 through 2009 such cycle is repeated, and it will be repeated indefinitely..
Every year a Grand Jury including 20 members is appointed. The members are specialists in the specific subjects receiving the award, and they appoint their own president. The members of the Jury exclude themselves from being chosen for a Konex Award; a gesture that the Foundation emphasizes and thanks very specially.
Each year the activity receiving a prize is classified by the Grand Jury into 20 disciplines.
The Grand Jury selects the five personalities / institutions that show the most remarkable accomplishments in each of the 20 chosen disciplines. The 100 personalities / institutions receive their Konex Award - Merit Diploma in a public ceremony.
Then the Grand Jury selects one figure out of the five awarded. That is how 20 personalities / institutions receive the Platinum Konex in a special ceremony.
The Grand Jury also selects the most outstanding personality / institution among the 20 Platinum Konex; who is considered the most relevant figure of the activity and receives the Diamond Konex in the same ceremony as the 20 Platinum Konex.
Honour Konex is granted to an outstanding deceased personality.
The Grand Jury has the power to grant Special Mentions to those figures standing out for their achievements and are considered worthy of the award, though they do not specifically fit within given disciplines.
Since 2002 the Grand Jury has the authority to grant the Mercosur Konex Awards to the most relevant living personalities of the countries linked to Mercosur.
The 100 Konex Awards - Merit Diplomas are handed over in a first ceremony, and the other Awards: namely the Diamond Konex, the 20 Platinum Konex, the Honour Konex, the Mercosur Konex and the Special Mentions are offered in a final ceremony.