Nowness Fetes Inaugural Awards at the V&A

Tianwei Zhang

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LONDON — Modern Dazed, a venture between Dazed Media and China’s Modern Media that operates Nowness, has revealed the 10 honorees of its inaugural Nowness awards.

They are photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy; video and multimedia artist Korakrit Arunanondchai; artist, musician, poet and film director Baloji; artist, choreographer and innovator Ivan Blackstock; artist, director and choreographer Holly Blakey; filmmaker, photographer and artist Rhea Dillon; writer and director A.V. Rockwell; artist Jacolby Satterwhite; film director Sandra Winther, and director and writer Xinyuan Zheng Lu.

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A cocktail reception was held in the Modern Media gallery wing at the Victoria and Albert Museum to celebrate “the filmmakers and artists working in moving image, whose work we feel not only embodies the best of 2019, but has the potential to truly push culture forward in 2020 and beyond,” according to Bunny Kinney, creative director of Nowness.

Jefferson Hack, founder of Dazed Media; Thomas Shao, owner of China’s Modern Media; Andrew Maag, chief executive officer of Dunhill; Christopher Zanardi-Landi, ceo of LVMH’s Pink Shirtmaker, and designers such as Michele Lamy, Andreas Kronthaler and Bianca Saunders attended the ceremony.

Hack said at the reception that “we are proud to be able to offer the awards as an acknowledgment of talent who are breaking with convention. Supporting, developing, and platforming artists is at the heart of Nowness.”

Addy, who attended the event with a red Telfar bag, said winning the Nowness awards is “an out-of-body” experience. “I have been watching Dazed and Nowness for so long. Now being a part of it, I feel excited and it gives me that fuel to do more in the future,” he said, adding that his first international work is releasing soon.

Dillon felt “privileged and proud” to be one of the honorees. Her first work with Nowness is a short film, titled “Black Angel,” in which she questions what “the innocence young black people are allowed to have in today’s society.”

Hao Zheng, the winner of the Nowness China new talent awards, also traveled to London from Los Angeles for the occasion.

“My films are very character-driven. The theme I am focusing on right now is identity. I have been in the U.S. for 10 years. ‘Who am I?’ is the topic that I am always exploring,” he said, adding that he is excited to work with Nowness on future projects.

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