£600,000 awarded to new recipients of Awards for Artists 2022
We are delighted to reveal the five visual artists and five composers to receive £60,000 each with no strings attached from the largest awards for artists in the UK.
Visual Artists
Vanley Burke, Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye, Trevor Mathison, Libita Sibungu, Alberta Whittle
Composers
Laura Bowler, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Sarathy Korwar, Mariam Rezaei, Orphy Robinson
Awards for Artists supports visual artists and composers at a pivotal moment in their careers. Each award offers recipients £60,000 over three years – with no obligations or conditions as to how the money is used. Not only the largest award in the UK, this ‘no strings attached’ approach sets the awards apart from other schemes by giving artists the time and freedom to develop their creative ideas and to further their personal and professional growth.
The Awards reflect the Foundation’s strong belief in the value of artists to society, and the vital contribution that they make to our culture. This year’s recipients span a broad spectrum of visual arts practice and composition, including Mariam Rezaei’s pioneering turntablism; Sarathy Korwar’s heady mix of South Asian jazz and Indian classical music; Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye’s exploration of the intersections of writing, scenography and performance; and Vanley Burke’s intimate photographs documenting the lives of Black British people.
Jane Hamlyn, Chair, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Chair of the Visual Arts Panel commented:
“Artists are facing enormous challenges right now. These awards give artists much-needed time, resources and headspace. There are no strings attached, but I’m sure they will give back in many different ways.”
Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive of Paul Hamlyn Foundation said:
“We believe that a healthy civic society is one where artists thrive – we want to support artists and composers to have the freedom to develop creatively, and to grow personally and professionally.”
Since the Awards began in 1994, PHF has recognised a total of 337 artists across a range of artforms with funding totalling £9.94 million. Previous recipients include visual artists Yinka Shonibare (1998), Jeremy Deller (2001), Phyllida Barlow (2007), Ed Atkins (2012), Michael Dean (2014), Sonia Boyce (2016), Charlotte Prodger (2017), Ingrid Pollard (2019) and Hetain Patel (2021). Composers include Sally Beamish (1994), Janek Schaefer (2008), Tansy Davies (2009), Eliza Carthy (2012), Shabaka Hutchings (2014), Daniel Kidane (2016), Serafina Steer (2017) and Abel Selaocoe (2021).
Each year, a panel of four new judges selects the recipients on the basis of talent, promise and need, as well as achievement. The awards might be made at any point in an artist’s career with no age restrictions unlike many other awards schemes; Gustav Metzger was 80 when he received the award in 2006. In selecting recipients, the panel always considers an artist’s potential for future development.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the recipients and thank everyone who made the awards possible, especially the judges and nominators.
Full biographies and examples of each artist’s work can be found here.
*Photo credits (top L-R): Edna Mae Francis, Josef Kinczak, Claudette Johnson, Becky Tyrrell and Matthew Arthur Williams; (below L-R): Robin Clewley, Steve Bliss, Fabrice Bourgelle, Fabrice Bourgelle, Fair Light Photos and Will Strange.