The Arts Foundation Futures Awards 2024 winners were announced at a ceremony on 28 February at the Southbank Centre, London, which was full of the UK’s best rising artists and creatives. Five transformative £10,000 fellowships were awarded to help the winners further develop their practice, while all short-listed creatives received £1,000.
The Arts Foundation Futures Awards 2024 winners
Composer, producer and bassist Daniel Casimir received the award for Jazz Composition. His 2021 debut album Boxed In merged the sound of ‘New UK Jazz’ with classical orchestration.
Rhea Thomas received an award for Regenerative Design. The climate innovator put extensive work into biomaterial research, utilising prawn waste from the seafood industry and transforming it into a product, 'Seasprout', to be used as an alternative to single-use food packaging.
The Short Film Documentary Fellow was awarded to Cherish Oteka, a documentary and filmmaker who tells the stories of often erased communities. Having won a BAFTA for the Best Short Film in 2022, Oteka has just finished filming her first feature-length film on LGBTQ+ athletes and organisers within sport.
London-based writer Tatenda Shamiso was awarded the Theatre Writing Fellow. The Theatre Writing Award jury member Vicky Featherstone, previously artistic director of the Royal Court, said, ‘Tatenda’s work and belief stood out among a really talented group of artists. What struck me was the careful balance of accomplishment, joy and hard-won experiences and I am so excited to see where he will go next. This award hopefully gives him some time to choose those next steps.’
Working across moving image, installation, performance, photography, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, sound-text, and ceramics, Rebecca Bellatoni explores everyday occurrences, with an abstract twist. With work exhibited at Tate Britain, and Frieze Live London, she was awarded the Visual Art Fellow.
The shortlist also included Romarna Campbell, Jas Kayser, Luca Manning, William Eliot, Aurélie Fontan, Emma Money, Jessica Bishopp, Rosie Morris, Kateryna Pavlyuk, Safaa Benson-Effiom, Laurie Motherwell, Yomi Ṣode, Dan Guthrie, Alexi Marshall and Rafał Zajko.
