The shortlist is announced…

It’s out – the 2009 shortlist for the Best of Manchester Awards has just been announced. And the nominees are:

ART

Contents May Vary the artists collective have been nominated. Formed in 2004, this group of MMU Fine Art graduates has, for the past five years, staged a number of innovative group exhibitions and contributed to events as diverse as Artranspennine08, the Northern Art Prize and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Contents May Vary were also shortlisted for HONK, a touring exhibition that featured animation, drawing and performance – but where the ‘gallery’ was in fact the back of a white van.

Rachel Goodyear has been shortlisted for a portfolio of beautiful, yet unsettling, pencil and watercolour drawings. Goodyear has recently exhibited at Cornerhouse in Manchester and as part of Liverpool Biennial at Tate Liverpool in 2008; her work, as you might expect, shows great technical skill. But it is her interest in creating discomforting, ambiguous narratives, often presented as a ‘cluster’ of drawings unique to each gallery or display space, which drew particular praise from the judges.

Owl Project is another art collective, this time comprised of Simon Blackmore, Antony Hall and Steve Symons. Drawing on influences such as woodwork, hobby-style electronics and open source software, Owl Project has produced a range of semi-sculptural, semi-comical musical instruments that have been exhibited across the UK and Europe and premiered at events such as the Sonic Arts Network EXPO, Lovebytes and Futuresonic. Owl Project has been shortlisted for its portable ‘rustic’ instruments, the iLog, the m-Log and the Log1k.

The judges also awarded special commendations to Nick Jordan, who, with fellow artist and collaborator, Jacob Cartwright, was an artist research fellow at Manchester Museum, and Maurice Carlin, an artist who also founded the Islington Mill Art Academy and co-founded the Sounds from the Other City festival.

MUSIC

Jayne Compton has been shortlisted for a diverse portfolio that includes long-running experimental club night, Club Brenda, ‘a genuinely uncompromising underground art happening’, according to Compton that blends live music, art and performance. Compton has also been shortlisted for her Switchflicker Records label (which launched the Ting Tings with That’s Not My Name) and an upcoming Arts Council book, Strange Trees.

Natalie Curtis was shortlisted for a photography portfolio that includes portraits of bands such as Doves, the Paris Riots and Silversun Pickups. Her quiet documentary style has lead to a series of startlingly warm and intimate shots – and was singled out by the judges for its freshness and direct approach.

Max Moran has been shortlisted for a portfolio that includes the video-based music blog, ThisTownSounds.com. Running since 2007, the blog has premiered White Lies’ first ever filmed interview, as well as early performances from the likes of Florence & The Machine. Moran has also been recognised for his sell-out club night, Hot Club, its laid back sister session, Hat Club and, more recently, Moran’s burgeoning record label, Hit Club.

The music judges also awarded special commendations to Paddy Steer, an ‘unsung hero’ according to one of our panel, for his contribution to the Manchester music scene over the past 25 years; and to classical composer Joe Duddell who has curated (and conducts) the Elbow and Hallé Orchestra performances that form the centrepiece of this year’s Manchester International Festival.

FASHION

Paul Griffiths has been nominated for his shop and clothing label, Babycakes. Despite being only two years old, Babycakes is already a smash hit: the label’s store opening in Manchester was met with a 400-strong queue, while its limited edition t-shirt designs regularly sell out within hours of their launch. Babycakes plans to open London and Los Angeles outlets in early 2010.

Holly Russell is an alumnus of Manchester School of Art whose shimmering, stunning graduate collection features hundreds of hand-sewn scarab beetle wings. Russell has also collaborated with a metal worker to incorporate aluminium into her designs and an astronomer to create embellished digital prints. Hugely ambitious but with a realistic approach to the fashion industry, Russell hopes to take up an MA in Fashion Womenswear at the renowned Royal College of Art.

Katie Webb is another Manchester School of Art alumni. Her understated, architectural collection is a stark contrast to Russell’s, featuring neutral colours and luxe fabrics such as leather, cashmere and silk. The judges highlighted Webb’s minimalist designs and technical skills, as well as her environmental awareness and subsequent drive to source fabrics from the UK and Europe.

The fashion judges also awarded a special commendation to Jen Scott-Russell, the milliner who runs the successful Northern Quarter-based shop, H’atelier.

The winners will be announced live at an awards ceremony at Urbis on 23 July. The BOMA exhibition runs 24 July-20 September, also at Urbis.

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Tick tock, goes the clock

The Best of Manchester Awards close for entry at Midnight this Friday (1 May).

Don’t forget, don’t miss out, do get online and do get your entry in.

All the information you’ll need is here. Good luck…

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For a while now, all roads have led to Manchester

Jeremy Deller, Turner Prize winning artist, one of those commissioned for this year’s Manchester International Festival, and also, as it happens, a Best of Manchester judge, had this to say a few weeks ago:

‘For me for some time now, all roads have been leading to Manchester. I have been so inspired by the industrial and musical heritage of this town.’

Deller, who is creating a procession down Deansgate as part of MIF, went on to say that his new work was ‘a love letter’ to Manchester.

But none love this dirty old town as much as the people who live and work here, eh? So, now’s the time to show Deller (and all the other BOMA judges) what Manchester is, creatively-speaking, made of.

This is your 4-week warning to get your entries in to the Best of Manchester Awards. Entries close on 1 May. You don’t have long.

Enter now.

An image of 'Procession' by Jeremy Deller (copyright Tim Sinclair)

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Feel the love: BOMA drums up more support

Today might be Friday the 13th but here at BOMA Towers we’re feeling rather lucky: we’ve just had confirmation of two very good things.

First up, we’re delighted to welcome another new judge. Clare Ceprinsky, Image Director at Matthew Williamson, has agreed to join the fashion panel. Clare takes the total number of judges to 25, joining the likes of Wayne Hemingway, Jeremy Deller, Peter Saville, Tim Marlow and Miranda Sawyer.

What exactly is an ‘image director’? Well, Clare originally joined the fashion house to oversee the design of the flagship Matthew Williamson store on Bruton Street, London. She now manages all aspects of the overall brand, the visual look of Williamson stores and the building and concept development for all ‘shops in shops’ and standalone boutiques (including the launch of a flagship New York store last month). She also gets involved in the retail side of the business, looking after the merchandising and window display of the label’s flagship outlet in London, and worked very closely with Williamson to curate the exhibition Matthew Williamson- 10 Years in Design, which the eagle-eyed among you will remember showed at Urbis last year.

And, for those of you that know your kitten heels from your shoe boots, the links between Matthew Williamson and Manchester are incredibly strong: Matthew was born and brought up in the city and is something of an inspiration to an emerging generation of Mancunian fashion talent.

Above: image from the Matthew Williamson show at Urbis in 2008

So that’s one bit of good news. The other is that Aesthetica Magazine has just come on board as a media partner. This glossy arts title covers the full spectrum of the arts and culture (literature, visual art, music, film, theatre and more), and has a bit of a thing for delving into the arts scene outside London – which we, of course, heartily approve of.

But the best bit is that the magazine believes ‘that the arts are interdisciplinary, with many artists blurring the lines between genres and crossing boundaries in their work.’ That works for us – in fact, we’d go so far as to say that Aesthetica and The Best of Manchester Awards fit together rather well.

Our sincere thanks to both Clare and all at Aesthetica: today is a good day at BOMA Towers.

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On your marks

And we’re off. After lining up a phenomenal judging panel, running a design competition, sorting out an advertising campaign and some top sponsors (including our main supporter, Marketing Manchester), making partnership deals with the likes of MMU, Castlefield Gallery, Cornerhouse and Blueprint Studios – and generally running ourselves ragged for the last four months or so – The Best of Manchester Awards are now open for entries.

The hunt is now on to find the artists, musicians and designers whose boundary-breaking work deserves the Best of Manchester crown.

As you know, our 24 judges include Peter Saville, Wayne Hemingway, the Turner Prize winning artist, Jeremy Deller, Tim Marlow (White Cube, London), Miranda Sawyer, Yvette Livesey (In The City) and Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly).

But the awards are far more than a pat on the back from these industry greats. And, while we grant you that the £6k that’s up for grabs (£2k per category) is also a sweetener, the awards are about more than the money. They’re even about more than the chance to take part in a major exhibition at Urbis.

What makes these awards special is the chance that the winners get to kick-start their careers with the kind of contacts and professional development that money can’t buy. Think about it: you’re a young band, say, and you’ve got the chance to get your music in front of Universal’s head of A&R (Caroline Elleray) and the woman who runs In The City (Yvette Livesey). Or you’re a fine artist, and all of a sudden your work is being seen by Urbis, Castlefield Gallery, White Cube and a Turner Prize winning artist.

Chances like that just don’t come along very often.

And if that doesn’t persuade you, here’s what happened to some of 2008’s winners and nominees:

Art award winner Naomi Kashiwagi has gone on to stage performances at the Barbican (London) and the Whitworth Art Gallery. She took advantage of an Urbis-sponsored trip to the Frieze and Zoo art fairs to develop her practice, featured in a group show at Cornerhouse at the end of 2008, won the Individual Artist Award at the Art Council’s art08 awards and has secured a solo exhibition in Tokyo this year.

Fashion winner Simon Buckley, who runs the Rags to Bitches boutique, went on to win Best Female Clothes Shop in the Galaxy 2008 Awards and was Highly Commended for Best Womenswear in the Drapers Awards. After a Guardian write-up, Rags to Bitches have since run a series of sold-out fashion events at Urbis.

Fashion nominee Nabil El Nayal is the darling of Vogue and has been tipped by the national press as ‘the next face of British womenswear’. He swiped the Womenswear Award at Graduate Fashion Week this summer and won a place on the Royal College of Arts’ Womenswear MA (alumni include Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen). Thanks to Urbis, Nayal’s couture collection became the star of its own fashion shoot in Flux Magazine, with the resulting photographs displayed at Harvey Nichols Manchester in October 2008.

So, what are you waiting for? The awards open for entries today (16 February) and close at
Midnight on 1 May 2009. Entry is online. The shortlist will be announced on 15 June, and the winners announced live at an awards ceremony at Urbis on 23 July.

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Beat the crunch – get creative with your clobber

Ah, sweet January: that long month whose only highlights are maxed out credit cards, dark days and, new for this year, a recession. Luckily for you, our 2008 Fashion Award winners, Rags to Bitches, are offering a credit crunch-defying event later this month.

RTB are running a customising workshop at Urbis on Sunday 18 January. Showing you how to get to grips with your sewing machine (or just a needle and thread), the workshop teaches some clever techniques for updating old clothes or adjusting vintage threads. And, best of all, it’s completely free and accompanied by the usual RTB Sunday teas, live music and honest-to-goodness fun.

Rags to Bitches customising workshop. Sunday 18 January, The Social, Urbis, 2-4pm, free. Email info at rags-to-bitches dot co dot uk for more details.

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Design competition winner announced

It’s always the same, isn’t it? Everyone wants everything before Christmas. And we were no exception. The deadline for the Best of Manchester Awards 2009 design competition was 17 December. Interviews were held on 18 December. And the winner was announced on 22 December. Phew.

Despite a little industry grumbling on the How Do website (sigh), we had a fantastic response to the competition. Agencies, design studios and freelancers alike got to grips with the Best of Manchester brand and came up with some startling ideas. In the end, we selected the issues-led communications agency, Creative Concern.

We chose Creative Concern thanks to a combination of factors: their design credentials, their innovative approach and their inherent grasp of what we wanted to do with the 2009 marketing campaign. As we talked through their submission, it was clear that this was an agency that could deliver not just good design but good communications and marketing as a whole.

And, now that the New Year has dawned, we’re already working hard with Creative Concern to develop what we hope will be a fitting marketing campaign for The Best of Manchester Awards 2009. Watch this space…

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