We are delighted to announce the 19 new artists’ projects selected for Jerwood New Work Fund 2023. Ranging from theatre-making, to composing, to visual arts – these artists represent some of the most exciting breakthrough talent across the UK.
The selected artists are:
Adam Moore, Anna Maria Nabirye, Ashley Holmes, Chinyanta, Christian Noelle Charles, Claire Eliza Willoughby, Claye Bowler, Craig McCorquodale, Dickson Mbi Company, Dylan Huw, Faye MacCalman, Francis Dosoo, Jessica Hagan, Kirsty Russell, Mantawoman, Ray Young, Reece Williams, Shamica Ruddock, and Soojin Chang.
Jerwood New Work Fund (JNWF) was first launched in 2019 through a national call for entries, with a focus on supporting research and development. The experience showed us that offering high-trust direct project funding to artists to lead and build ambitious projects on their own terms can generate exceptional new work for people to engage with.
In 2022 we relaunched the fund to support artists with a track record of exceptional potential to bridge the gap between early-career and established practices by enabling them to secure the final partners and match funds to ‘green light’ their most ambitious projects to date. JWNF offers project grants from £2,500 – £10,000, supporting artists to bring bold new work to audiences across the UK on their own terms.
JWNF is only available for artists who have recently completed a Jerwood Arts funded development programme, award, fellowship, or residency, and are on the cusp of their mid-career point. As such, the selected artists represent some of the most exciting voices and artistic visions emerging from across the UK.
Ashley Holmes, interdisciplinary sound-artist says,
I’m really excited to be able to develop work and ideas alongside a core group of collaborators over the coming months, and build and nurture those relationships in the lead up toward the most ambitious project I will have worked on to date.
Mantawoman, musician and performer says,
I am looking forward to showing audiences who I really am as an artist. I feel that my journey so far, as blessed and amazing as it has been, led me to pigeon-hole myself as “the yangqin player.” Now, empowered by the persona of Mantawoman, I feel ready to incorporate conceptual aspects, physical movement, video art, and nascent acting elements into my performances, to make them more rich and surprising.
Jessica Hagan, Ghanaian-British spoken word artist, playwright and screenwriter says,
As an early-career Black Woman artist, I have too often felt pressured to create work that requires me to revisit harrowing past traumas in order to satisfy the expectations of mainstream audiences. This project has given me the opportunity to develop a genuinely riotous and ridiculous play, which still tackles an important and urgent subject.
Craig McCorquodale, Glasgow-based performance artist says,
This project marks a change of pace for me, as I scale up my work and consider ideas of spectacle. I’m looking forward to all of it, but especially meeting new collaborators, connecting internationally and discovering what happens when the theatrical rubs up against the everyday.
The artists selected for JNWF 2023 will receive funding towards the final development of exceptional new projects that will lead to new exhibitions, performances and publications over the next few years.
Read more about the selected artists below!
