Now in its 30th year, PHF’s Awards for Artists support visual artists and composers at a critical moment in their careers. Unique in its no-strings-attached funding model, Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Awards for Artists allows recipients to use their award as they wish, providing them the freedom to develop their creative ideas, relieving them of financial pressures they may be facing, and supporting their personal and professional growth. 

The 30^th anniversary of the Awards for Artists marks an increase in the award from £60,000 to £75,000 each, reflecting the Foundation’s strong belief in the value of artists and their vital contribution to society. Since 1994, the scheme has benefited over 357 artists with awards totalling an astonishing £11.29 million, underscoring the significant contribution of the Award to the broader UK arts sector. This year, as in previous years, the recipients of the Award reflect the vitality and diversity of art making throughout the UK today.

The recipients were named at a ceremony held on 14th November at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London.

Jane Hamlyn, Chair, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Chair, Visual Arts judging panel, said: “The visual artists and composers selected this year join an exceptional cohort, whose work throughout the 30 years of the Awards has continually reaffirmed our commitment to supporting artists. We hope this year’s Awards continue to offer artists crucial time, space and resource to explore their practice.”

Kevin Le Gendre, Writer, Broadcaster, Journalist and Chair of the Composers judging panel, said: “As judges, we’re proud to recognise the exceptional artists that make up this year’s Award recipients. Each showcases the vibrancy and potential of the arts and we hope the no-strings-attached Award gives them freedom to experiment and evolve their work.” 

Visual Artists

Anne Bean’s (b.1950) multidisciplinary practice spans over 50 years and has been pivotal in the development of live and performance art in the UK. Since 1970, Anne Bean has presented solo and collaborative projects worldwide. Captivated by processes and frequently collaborative, Bean works across performance, sculpture, installation, sound, photography, painting and drawing.   

Barry Anthony Finan (b.1958) is a self-taught artist born in Manchester. Finan is supported to develop his work by Venture Arts and has been showing nationally since 2014. A writer, actor and artist, Finan produces bold, text based visual art he calls ‘WRRIGHHTINNGSERRSS’: repetitive letters that elongate his words and become scripts, personal messages and hopes for the future.

Mikhail Karikis (b.1975) is a Greek-British artist working with moving image, sound, performance and other media. Through collaborations with individuals and/or communities, he develops socially embedded projects that prompt an activist imaginary and rouse the potential to invent hopeful and sustainable futures. He focuses on listening as an artistic methodology, and the voice as a socio-political material.

Grace Ndiritu (b.1982) is a British-Kenyan artist whose artworks are concerned with the transformation of our contemporary world. Ndiritu’s long-term practice is engaged in the re-introduction of non-rational healing methodologies such as shamanism to re-activate the ‘sacredness’ of art spaces. Her archive of over forty 'hand-crafted' videos; textiles, photography, performances, paintings and architectural spaces have been widely exhibited. 

Sean Roy Parker is a visual artist, writer and landworker who works across disciplines including sculpture, installation, cooking, foraging, publishing, workshops and community gardening. Focussing on low-tech crafts and traditional food preservation using consumer waste and wild abundance, he challenges the received understanding of what constitutes artistic production. In the spirit of degrowth much of his work gets eaten, composted or repurposed. 

Composers

Auclair (b.1978) is a British-Rwandan music and sound artist, inspired by Black radical feminist theory, science fiction literature, and horror films. Her work explores rhythm, voice and electronica and takes an embodied approach to exploring ideas with sound. Alongside recordings, her practice takes form in live performances, installations, film scores and multidisciplinary projects.

Andrew Hamilton (b.1977) is a Dublin-born composer who has enjoyed artistic success across decades and continents, with his work being performed at numerous festivals, and by many ensembles. Highly regarded in the contemporary classical scene, his work is especially known for its playfulness, using repetition to create a state of unease, ambiguity and joy. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Rachel Musson (b.1974) is a saxophonist, improviser and composer. Widely acclaimed as an adventurous player and imaginative composer, she is involved in a variety of free improvisation projects. More recently, as can be heard on her 2024 album, Ashes and Dust, Earth and Sky, LLudw a Llwch, Daear a Nef, she has introduced composed elements to her work, drawing on text, field recordings and processing sounds.

Aidan O’Rourke is a composer and fiddler who is rooted in Scottish and Irish traditional music and tests the edges of those forms. He co-founded Lau in 2006 and the quartet Kan in 2010. He has a duo with jazz pianist Kit Downes and performs with piper Brìghde Chaimbeul. He has also formed a duo with guitarist Sean Shibe. Film scores include the first Gaelic cinematic documentary, Iorram, which the Guardian described as “a feast for the ears”. 

Mark Sanders (b.1960), a drummer/percussionist of British-Belizean heritage, has been at the forefront of improvised music worldwide for the last 30 – 40 years. Known for his playing in the fields of Free Jazz and Free Improvisation, his experience means he has a deep understanding of the processes needed to perform sensitive, dynamic and creative music within free improvisers or composed music of other genres. He performs at music festivals around the world and has released over two hundred cd and vinyl recordings.

Past visual artist recipients include: Larry Achiampong (2019), Black Obsidian Sound System (B.O.S.S) (2023),Yinka Shonibare (1998), Jeremy Deller (2001), Phyllida Barlow (2007), Ed Atkins (2012), Michael Dean (2014), Sonia Boyce (2016), Charlotte Prodger (2017), Ingrid Pollard (2019), Hetain Patel (2021), Harold Offeh (2019), Hardeep Pandhal (2021), Gustav Metzger (2006), Anne Tallentire (2017) and Alberta Whittle (2022).

Past composer recipients include: Martin Green (2014), Nneka Cummins (2023), Sarathy Korwar (2022), Yazz Ahmed (2021), Abel Selaocoe (2021), Laura Jurd (2019), Eleanor Alberga (2019), Sarah Angliss (2018), Serafina Steer (2017), Brian Irvine (2015), Eliza Carthy (2012), Shabaka Hutchings (2014), Luke Bedford (2007).

A full list of past recipients of the Awards for Artists since 1994 can be found here.

The Paul Hamlyn Awards for Artists has evolved over the years. Since 1998, there has been a consistent focus on visual artists, and since 2007, on composers. However, in the earlier years, different art forms were also recognised, such as choreographers in 1995 and poets in 1997. It has also adapted to external challenges; in 2020 and 2021, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the standard selection process was set aside enabling more artists to receive financial support. In total, £2 million was awarded to over 150 artists.