The three inaugural awards were presented this morning (9 March 2016) by Southbank Centre  artistic director Jude Kelly CBE at today’s Women in Creative Industries Day. It was followed by a call for submissions ahead of the first full awards ceremony that will take place at WOW – Women of the World festival 2017.

The inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Julia Peyton-Jones, (director, Serpentine Galleries) and Paulette Randall (theatre and television director and playwright). Bryony Kimmings, a live artist, playwright and director, is a recipient of the Bold Moves Award. 

Peyton-Jones will come to the end of her 25-year tenure at Serpentine Gallery later this year and spoke passionately about the importance of women breaking down barriers in the creative industries.

The awards will be presented annually at Southbank Centre’s WOW– Women of the World festival, and is intended to highlight achievements made by women in the arts, tech, music, film, games, media, fashion and advertising industries.

Jude Kelly (left) presenting an award to Julia Peyton-Jones (right) Photo © Pete Woodhead.

Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly, founder of the WOW Creative Industries Awards and the WOW – Women of the World festival, said:

‘I am launching the WOW Creative Industries Awards to recognise how pivotal women have been in making the sector as strong as it is today. Through our Women in Creative Industries Day we strive to bring recognition to the role women play in the creative industries and address challenges women face in reaching their creative goals.

‘I believe these awards will help us reflect on the risks individual women have taken to push the arts, digital, music, film, fashion, games, media and advertising sectors forwards and encourage women who are passionate about carving their own creative path to pursue their dreams.’

Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy Ed Vaizey MP added: ‘I hope that the WOW Creative Industries Awards will help inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs, artists, designers, coders and writers to pursue their dreams. The UK is home to so much talent in our thriving creative industries, but we can’t forget how much we still need to do to eradicate the barriers many still face when trying to achieve their goals.’

The WOW Women in Creative Industries Day is part of Southbank Centre’s seven day WOW – Women of the World festival, now in its sixth edition. The day is an opportunity for men and women working across the creative industries to discuss how to achieve gender equality in the sector and a chance to celebrate some of the important improvements that have taken place over the last year.