Thanks to the lovely people at Spreading Jam, I was backstage at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards yesterday, predominantly taking photos but also managing to nab a few words here and there.
One of the world's most coveted arts awards, celebrating the best of British culture and achievement, this is the 15th year of the awards and was hosted, as ever, by Melvyn Bragg. The glittering ceremony was attended by some of the most illustrious patrons, practitioners and performers of the creative arts and the winners were presented with an award designed by Turner prize winning sculptor Anish Kapoor.
Award recipients were Dame Judi Dench (Outstanding Achievement); Plan B (Best Pop); This is England 86 (TV Drama); Monsters (Best Film); Rev (Best Comedy); Clybourne Park (Theatre); BBC Philharmonic and The Halle (Classical Music); Everything Everything (The Times Breakthrough); Akram Khan (Dance); Candia McWilliam (Literature); Welsh National Opera (Opera) and Tacita Dean (Visual Arts).
Melvyn Bragg said: "The phenomenal shortlist and truly inspirational list of winners is further proof, if it were ever needed, that the arts in this country are vibrant and thriving. With such a wide array of winners, from Plan B to Die Meistersingers, This is England '86 to Clybourne Park, this is a much needed opportunity to thank and honour the dedication and breadth of talent at work in this country."
I'm not even going to attempt to put all the photos and details into one blog post - that would be madness, so you'll have to be patient! I shall post a dedicated piece to each winner for you instead, in nice easy, bitesize chunks - I may even have them all done by the end of the day!
An almost reverential silence greeted Oscar winning actress Dame Judi Dench in the press room, after she was honoured with The Dorchester Outstanding Achievement award, for a 50 year career that sees her remain at the top of her field.
