Winners Of The WOW Women In Creative Industries Awards Announced

Winners, presenters and nominees for the WOW Women in Creative Industries Awards at Southbank Centre including (L-R) Lennie Goodings, Sabrina Mahfouz, Phyllida Lloyd, Bobby Baker, Liz Carr, Kate Mosse, Lubaina Himid, Shobana Jeyasingh, Amy Lamé, Mary Portas, Jackie Hagan, Juno Dawson, Louis Weaver, Dawn Walton, Mona Hammond, Jude Kelly, Liv Little, Roshni Goyate, Chi-chi Nwanoku, Sarah Crompton, Vicky Featherstone, Mira Kaushik, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Deborah Williams and Adjoa Andoh

Hosted by Artistic Director and WOW founder Jude Kelly CBE as part of the Women in Creative Industries Day, to launch the eighth WOW - Women of the World festival, supported by Bloomberg, awards presenters included Mary Portas, Bobby Baker, Amy Lamé, Chi-chi Nwanoku, John McGrath, Adjoa Andoh, Liz Carr, Nikesh Shukla and Sarah Crompton.

WOW Women in Creative Industries 2018 Award Winners:

Bold Moves Award (for a woman who has taken daring, bold and ambitious actions, either personally or in their work, which have positively impacted creative form and forged new ways of working):

• WINNER: Author and journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge for her debut book, Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race, a nuanced and balanced conversation around race, which shifted the discourse towards the voices of people of colour.

Fighting the Good Fight (in recognition of a woman who has demonstrated great tenacity and on-going commitment to excellence within the creative industries):

• WINNER: Lois Weaver, artist, activist, writer and director, for four decades of commitment to work engaging the widest possible public in feminism and human rights through performance

Inspiring Change Award (recognising the actions of women who have been instrumental in effecting positive social change and who have given a platform to important stories and unheard voices through their work):

• WINNER: Cilla Baynes, founder of Community Arts North West, for her development of the Exodus Greater Manchester Refugee Arts Programme, one of the most significant arts programmes that is working with refugees.

Gender Equality Champion Award (for a person who has been instrumental in championing equality for women within the creative industries, and whose actions have contributed to improving gender equality):

• WINNER: Vicky Featherstone for her urgent call to action to the theatre-world in the wake of #MeToo with her initiative No Grey Area, that both shed light on sexual misconduct in the UK theatre industry and suggested a way forward for stopping it.

Breaking New Ground Award (for a woman who is innovating new technologies and digital projects, or breaking new ground with cutting edge thinking within their field):

• WINNER: Liv Little, for founding Gal-Dem: a magazine (online and in print) and creative collective of women and non-binary people of colour to open up their take on the world to a wider audience.

Outstanding Achievement Award 2016-17 (awarded to the creative powerhouses and bright sparks who have reshaped the arts and inspired peers with visionary work and an outstanding creative contribution in the last year):

• WINNER: Lubaina Himid, for the beauty and power of her 2017 exhibition Navigation Charts at Spike Island and for her 2017 Turner Prize-winning exhibition, The Place is Here. Both revealed the way that her consistent commitment to making art for black women has opened up a conversation with a much wider community.

The Chairs' Award

• Phyllida Lloyd and her team at the Donmar theatre for Shakespeare Trilogy, a transatlantic project presenting an all-female cast in three productions set in a women's prison which exploded once and for all the notion that Shakespeare has to be played by men.

Lifetime Achievement Awards

• Lennie Goodings, for living out the definition of the name of the publishing company she founded - Virago (a heroic, war-like woman), and championing women writers' voices around the world.
• Shobana Jeyasingh, British choreographer and founder of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance company, for more than 30 years of creating dynamic, fearless and enigmatic dance, and taking the artform to new audiences globally.
• Mona Hammond, for her long and distinguished theatre career, and for championing black British actors with her theatre company Talawa Theatre.

View the full list of nominees here.

Set up in 2016 by Jude Kelly CBE, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre, and founder of WOW - Women of the World?, the WOW Women in Creative Industries Awards recognise significant achievements made by women in the arts, tech, music, film, games, media, fashion and advertising, and celebrate the women and men progressing equality in the arts and creative industries. They were the first ever cross-sector awards to honour women and genderqueer or non-binary people leading the way in the creative industries.

This year's judging panel included Tate Director Maria Balshaw CBE; Anne-Marie Curtis, Editor-in-Chief of ELLE Magazine; Martin Green, CEO & Director, Hull City of Culture 2017; Amy Lamé, London's first Night Czar and co-founder of Duckie; John McGrath, CEO & Artistic Director of Manchester International Festival; Dame Julia Peyton-Jones DBE, Senior Global Director of Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac; Jenny Sealey MBE, CEO & Artistic Director of Graeae; Nikesh Shukla, author, and editor of The Good Immigrant; and Deborah Williams, CEO at Creative Diversity Network, convened by Jude Kelly and arts editor, broadcaster and critic, Sarah Crompton.

Shobana Jeyasingh, British choreographer and founder of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, said: "It is an honour and an immense privilege to be the recipient of a WOW Lifetime Achievement Award. Realising creative potential is always collaborative by nature and it is brilliant to celebrate it with, and among, extraordinary women. It is particularly exciting to receive the award now as we become one of Southbank Centre's associate companies. I look forward to achieving and realising even more through this exciting collaboration with one of London's landmark venues."

As part of the Women in Creative Industries Day, programmed in partnership with the Creative Industries Federation, Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director of Royal Court Theatre, will speak about her initiative No Grey Area, which aimed to shine a light on the systemic nature of sexual harassment in the theatre industry. Other speakers include Juno Dawson, Sabrina Mahfouz, Cassa Pancho MBE, Tea Uglow, Harriet Vine, Francesca Martinez and Deborah Williams, with keynotes from Cressida Pollock, ?CEO of English National Opera, ?and Vanessa Kingori MBE?, the youngest and first female publisher of British GQ, the first black publisher in Condé Nast UK history and the new UK Vogue publisher.

In the 100th anniversary year since the first British women won the right to vote, Southbank Centre's eighth WOW - Women of the World festival celebrates the seismic changes brought about by women and men historically, and brings together the voices of women and girls of all ages to transform the future for gender equality and highlight solutions to modern day challenges. This year's festival sees a programme of more than 200 talks and debates, concerts, performances and workshops from 7-11 March 2018.

For the complete WOW London 2018 programme, visit ?southbankcentre.co.uk/wow

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