A work called "Red" handed by multimedia artist Emma Hercus won this year's $20,000 National Contemporary Art Awards. The collage on MDF of an abstract masked figure with upraised hands, was chosen from more than three hundred entries. All the finalists' works are on show at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato. It's an event that's often hit the headlines since it started more than 20 years ago. The media are notoriously sceptical of "modern art" and occasionally struggle to get their head around the winning work! Lynn Freeman spoke to Emma and to the judge, artist Reuben Paterson, who describes the winning piece as "a celebration of adversity". 2022 Runner Up and winner of the $5,000 Hugo Charitable Trust Award Raukura Turei for He Tukuna V (onepu, oil and pigment on linen). 2022 Friends of Waikato Museum $1,000 Merit Award winner Sara (Hera) Tautuku Orme for Ko Te Awa Ko Au -Darling (Darz) (photograph). 2022 Random Art Group $1,000 Merit Award winner Oleg Polounine for Dits and Dahs (aluminium foil sculpture).