July 24, 2024 – Sky Arts is today announcing the nominees for the inaugural Sky Arts Awards.

Building on the legacy of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, the Sky Arts Awards is the ultimate celebration of the arts and culture sector, rewarding excellence across all art forms. The nominees revealed today comprise the most exciting artists and arts organisations across the UK and Ireland, some of whom are nominated for specific works from the past year, whilst others are recognised for their stellar body of work.

Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts, commented: “This year we’re rallying around the question of why the arts matter, helped by the inimitable Lord Melvyn Bragg, all the artists who appear in our shows, and the expert juries assembled for each awards category. Following in the footsteps of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, the Sky Arts Awards will allow us to celebrate and venerate all the arts in one place, and definitively prove the value of the sector. And with the cohort of superstar nominees below, it’s going to be an unmissable night.”

This year’s Classical Music category features genre-defying Anoushka Shankar, nominated for her second volume of mini albums, Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn; James MacMillan for The Cumnock Tryst, and Richard Blackford for his work, Songs of Nadia Anjuman, for voice and orchestra.

In Comedy, Fern Brady is nominated for her body of work, including her bestselling memoir, Strong Female Character. Alongside her in the category are Blindboyboatclub and his popular podcast, The Blindboy Podcast, and Julia Masli for her acclaimed live agony aunt show, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

This year’s Dance category recognises hip hop dance company, Boy Blue, for a body of work including Free Your Mind, and Cycles; Clod Ensemble, for their unique staging of Charles Mingus’ seminal album, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady; and Michael Keegan-Dolan for his boundary-pushing work, How To Be A Dancer in Seventy-two Thousand Easy Lessons.

In Film, All Of Us Strangers, written and directed by Andrew Haigh, is nominated alongside coming-of-age drama, How to Have Sex, written and directed by Molly Manning Walker, and feature documentary, Occupied City, directed and produced by Steve McQueen.

Three literary titans form this year’s Literature category: Salman Rushdie is nominated for Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Paul Murray for his state-of-the-nation novel, The Bee Sting, and Claire Kilroy for her portrait of motherhood, Soldier Sailor.

The Opera category comprises of the Welsh National Opera and NoFit State Circus production of Death in Venice, bringing together images of ravishing beauty and the grotesque that lies beneath; Royal Opera House, nominated for their masterful production of Wozzeck, and English National Opera for their body of work in a year of critical acclaim.

In Poetry, Momtaza Mehri is nominated for her debut collection, Bad Diaspora Poems, told in lyric, prose and text messages. Also nominated for Poetry are Karen McCarthy Woolf and Nathalie Teitler for their editing of the Mapping the Future anthology, and Scottish poet and former Makar, Jackie Kay for her most recent collection, May Day.

In a hotly contested Popular Music category, singer-songwriter Cleo Sol is nominated for her body of work, including her fourth studio album, Gold; rappers Dave and Central Cee are nominated for record-breaking track, Sprinter, and indie rock band, The Last Dinner Party are nominated for their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy.

In a fantastic year for Television, three shows dominated this year’s category: BBC documentary Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is nominated alongside BBC true-crime drama, The Sixth Commandment and ITV’s groundbreaking dramatization of the Post Office scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

All three nominees in the Theatre category are recognised for their landmark body of work: @sohoplace, London’s first purpose-built in-the-round, flexible and fully accessible theatre; writer and actor, Ryan Calais Cameron whose works include Retrograde, and For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy; and The Sherman Theatre in Cardiff following a year of acclaimed productions from Welsh and Wales-based writers.

In Visual Arts, sculpture artist Lindsey Mendick is nominated for her exhibition, Sh*tfaced; Soheila Sokhanvari is nominated for Rebel Rebel, celebrating feminist icons from pre-revolutionary Iran; and Steve McQueen is nominated for his art film, Grenfell.

The Times Breakthrough Award celebrates rising stars across all arts genres whose careers have exploded in the past year. This year’s Times Breakthrough nominees are: Ben Goldscheider (Classical Music), Ania Magliano (Comedy), Jemima Brown (Dance), Savanah Leaf (Film), Kaliane Bradley (Literature), Aigul Akhmetshina (Opera), Ella Frears (Poetry), Kneecap (Popular Music), Adjani Salmon (Television), Ben Weatherill (Theatre) and Claudette Johnson (Visual Arts).

And still to be announced, the Melvyn Bragg Award, given by the country’s preeminent arts broadcaster to a recipient who has made a remarkable contribution to the arts industry.

Nominations are also open for brand new category, the Arts Hero Award, dedicated to celebrating the unsung heroes who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the arts possible. From sound engineers and lighting technicians, to security and housekeeping, this award recognises the invaluable contributions of all of those at the heart of the culture scene. You can nominate an Arts Hero here.

The Sky Arts Awards were commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment, for Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content for Sky UK and Ireland. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Leanne Cosby and the Project Manager is Vanessa Woodard. The Awards are produced by Somethin’ Else TV, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Ian Sharpe serves as Executive Producer.

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES

Classical Music

Anoushka Shankar for Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn
James MacMillan for The Cumnock Tryst 2023 
Richard Blackford for Songs of Nadia Anjuman 

Comedy

Blindboyboatclub for The Blindboy podcast 
Fern Brady (body of work)
Julia Masli for ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Dance

Boy Blue (body of work)
Clod Ensemble for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady  
Michael Keegan-Dolan for How To Be A Dancer in Seventy- two Thousand Easy Lessons 

Film

All Of Us Strangers
How To Have Sex
Occupied City

Literature

Salman Rushdie for Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder   
Paul Murray for The Bee Sting 
Claire Kilroy for Soldier Sailor 

Opera

Welsh National Opera and NoFit State Circus for Death in Venice 
Royal Opera House for Wozzeck
English National Opera (body of work)

Poetry

Momtaza Mehri for Bad Diaspora Poems 
Karen McCarthy Woolf and Nathalie Teitler for editing the Mapping the Future anthology
Jackie Kay for May Day

Popular Music

Cleo Sol (body of work)
Dave & Central Cee for Sprinter
The Last Dinner Party for Prelude to Ecstasy

Television

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland 
The Sixth Commandment
Mr Bates vs The Post Office 

Theatre

@sohoplace (body of work)
Ryan Calais Cameron (body of work)
The Sherman Theatre, Cardiff (body of work)

Visual Arts

Lindsey Mendick for Sh*tfaced    
Soheila Sokhanvari for Rebel Rebel  
Steve McQueen for Grenfell 

The Times Breakthrough Award

Ben Goldscheider: Classical Music
Ania Magliano: Comedy
Jemima Brown: Dance
Savanah Leaf: Film
Kaliane Bradley: Literature
Aigul Akhmetshina: Opera
Ella Frears: Poetry
Kneecap: Popular Music
Adjani Salmon: Television
Ben Weatherill: Theatre
Claudette Johnson: Visual Arts

The Melvyn Bragg Award

TBA

The Arts Hero Award

Nominations close at 23:59, Sunday 11 August