Last night (8 September) five of Australia’s top emerging creatives won the British Council’s 2010 Realise Your Dream award and will travel to the UK for the chance of a lifetime to meet leading practitioners in their chosen field.
The five talented winners, all in the emerging stages of their career, were selected from a bumper crop of more than 600 entries from across the country. The event, held at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art was hosted by Chris Taylor from The Chaser.
The 2010 Realise Your Dream entries were open to candidates in fields such as visual arts, fashion, design, advertising, architecture, music, animation, digital media, performing arts, publishing and computer games.
Award winners (l-r) Geordie Brookman, Natalia Milosz-Piekarska, Maricar & Maricor Manalo and Alice Gage.
The winners included:
• Alice Gage, writer and independent publisher from Redfern, Sydney NSW
• Samara Hersch, theatre maker from St Kilda, Melbourne VIC
• Maricor Marica, artisan designers and twin sisters from Newtown, Sydney NSW
• Natalia Milosz-Piekarska, contemporary jeweller from St Kilda, Melbourne VIC
• Geordie Brookman, theatre director from Adelaide, SA
Now in its eighth year, Realise Your Dream is a unique prize among creative scholarships offering important industry hook-ups that have seen past winners expand their careers, both in Australia and internationally. The prize awards each winner a return flight to the UK with Virgin Atlantic and an $8,000 NAB Cash Passport from National Australia Bank to cover their expenses.
Award presenters Liane Rossler, founding co-director of Dinosaur Designs and Luke Fisher, general manager, Virgin Atlantic.
But the key part of the prize is a tailored professional development programme, including meetings, placements and mentoring. The British Council will tap into its network in the UK creative industries to help open the doors winners need most to further their careers. The winners are those applicants who displayed innovation and leadership in their chosen fields, and who have a clear vision of how they’ll benefit from connecting with the UK’s best.
“This year’s winners showed impressive talent, passion and commitment to their crafts. I highly commend each on their outstanding work and ongoing contribution to the creative industries,” said British Council director, Nick Marchand.
Chris Taylor from The Chaser hosted the awards ceremony and spoke about the importance of programmes like Realise Your Dream for supporting Australian creativity.
“NAB is committed to nurturing Australia’s creative talent and we are proud to be supporting this year’s recipients of the British Council’s Realise Your Dream awards. We are dedicated to helping young people reach their potential and it goes without saying that this year’s finalists are an impressive group with amazing portfolios,” said Jaap Jonkman, state general manager NSW/ACT, NAB.
Realise Your Dream is a British Council initiative made possible by principal sponsor NAB, in association with Virgin Group of Airlines, Stamford Hotels and Resorts, triple j, Access PR and Republic of Everyone.
The awards will run again in 2011.
