Creative Edinburgh Awards 2016: The winners!
The 2016 Creative Edinburgh Awards have been announced at an awards ceremony this evening, with sculpture park Jupiter Artland, The Scottish Poetry Library and LeithLate arts producer Morvern Cunningham among the winners
Tonight, at a bash that also marked its fifth birthday, Creative Edinburgh handed out its annual awards that shine a light on what the creatives of Edinburgh have achieved over the past 12 months.
Sculpture park and art gallery Jupiter Artland picked up the City Award, which celebrates “an outstanding creative contribution or activity that promotes Edinburgh.” Jupiter Artland is known for its collaborations with world renowned artists, bringing them to Scotland and more specifically to Edinburgh, while in recent years the gallery has introduced a popular young people's programme and Art Late evenings, exploring the land and exhibits at night.
The Collaboration Award, meanwhile, went to Janis Claxton Dance and Pippa Murphy for their work on Pop-Up Duets, which saw the choreographer and composer work closely together to create an 'album' of tracks around various ideas of love. The Scottish Poetry Library snapped up the Creativity Award for its event The Library is Open! Drag Queen Poems, while Experience and Service Design consultancy Nile take the Commercial Award.
The Independent Award went to arts producer Morvern Cunningham, who has helped put Leith on the map with arts organisation LeithLate, which has been responsible for a number of public art initiatives in the Leith area including The Shutter Project and The Mural Project, alongside the annual LeithLate festival. When The Skinny spoke to Cunningham earlier this year about the latter, she was keen to emphasise the importance of the festival bringing Edinburgh’s various communities together. “It’s not just an art crowd,” said Cunningham, “and it’s not just a music crowd either. There’s also poetry and spoken word involved as well. We’re mixing these audiences up and putting people in places they haven’t been in before.”
Other awards handed out tonight include the Leadership Award, which went to Adam Castle of the Pollyanna cabaret and the Edinburgh Artists’ Moving Image Festival; the Social Award, won by WHALE Arts for the Street Arts project; the Startup Award, which went to Leith design and motion studio Werewolf; and the Student Award, which was awarded to Paula Caffrey for her book entitled Pronouncing Poland, which documents Paula’s struggle trying to learn and pronounce the Polish language, and the realisation that many other people here in the UK have the same problem.
The full list of this year’s nominees, with the winners shown in bold, can be seen below:
The City Award
For an outstanding creative contribution or activity that has promoted Edinburgh nationally or indeed, internationally, or work that has incorporated or utilised an Edinburgh city space or cultural idea specific to the city.
Jupiter Artland
Konishi Gaffney Architects
Local Heroes
The Collaboration Award
For an outstanding creative collaboration between two or more organisations or individuals.
Janis Claxton & Pippa Murphy ‘Popup- duets’
Werewolf & Unstable Creations
Rob St John, Simon Kirby, Tommy Perman and Random Spectacular
The Commercial Award
For an outstanding commercial creative contribution or activity from an agency, partnership, organisation, collective or company.
Nile (& the People's Money team)
StudioLR (Terex Truck Factory Experience Project)
Disney Research – Maggie Kosek
The Creativity Award
For a one off creative work or initiative, but the judges will have to consider it outstanding to win. Financial gain need not be the primary motivator in this category. In other words, it could simply be 'art' or a creative work undertaken to explore or express new ideas or talent.
The Scottish Poetry Library for its event, The Library is Open! Drag Queen Poems
Janis Claxton Dance
Heather Marshall/Creative Electric
The Independent Award
For an outstanding contribution or activity from a professional individual. To enter you must be a registered creative business, sole trader or freelancer.
Morvern Cunningham (Arts Producer LeithLate)
Kam-Ling design
Scott Willis
The Leadership Award
Recognising an outstanding individual for their leadership and contribution to their sector, or the creative industries as a whole.
Adam Castle
Danielle Trudeau, Tribe Porty
Jack Nissan, Tinderbox Orchestra
The Social Award
For an outstanding creative contribution or activity that benefits or contributes to a group or interest.
WHALE Arts for the Street Arts project
Lung Ha Theatre Company
Edinburgh Tool Library (ETL)
The Startup Award
For an outstanding creative contribution or activity from a newly registered company (less than 3 years).
Werewolf
Tube Map Ltd for WineTubeMap
Bright Side Studios
The Student Award
For an outstanding student creative contribution or activity from a full or part time student engaging in a creative discipline.