March 14, 2016
DUNEDIN FRINGE FESTIVAL AWARDS 2016 The Dunedin Fringe Festival 2016 wrapped up last night with the official awards ceremony, held at the Festival Club. The venue was packed to capacity with artists, volunteers, festival crew and friends. Seven awards were handed to the best acts in each category, in addition to eight general awards given to events across all art forms. Volunteers were also honoured, with ten awards recognising outstanding contributions to the festival. A panel of judges, selected by the Festival, chose the winners. Festival Director Josh Thomas opened the evening by thanking all of those involved, and later in the evening he introduced two new awards. The Warwick Broadhead Award, dedicated to the memory of the artist and performer who died in 2015, was established to recognise extraordinary talent, originality and creativity that pushes boundaries and expectations. The inaugural award was presented to LA-based artist Saint Bollard. The Special Contribution to Festival Life award was also established last night and was awarded to local musician and educator, Tahu Mackenzie, in recognition of her exceptional dedication to the festival The top prize of the night, Best in Fringe, was awarded to Dunedin-based artist, rotor plus, for his site-specific sound work unreliable witness. Judges commented that the work was created with “ice-pick precision” and the “development and execution of the concept was impeccable”. The Awards Night featured three performances by Dudley Benson, Saint Bollard and fefe stick-witch and Rosemary Overell oversaw proceedings for the 2 hour event. The Awards Night concluded the eleven-day Festival, which featured 70 events, the biggest in recent years. The festival opened with the Polson Higgs Opening Night Showcase event at the Regent Theatre on Wednesday 3 March. The Showcase event attracted an audience of 1100 people – a record for a Dunedin Fringe event. The full list of artist awards is as follows: CATEGORY AWARDS Best Cabaret Nominees Winner: A Sanctimonious Celebration of Drag and S&M Best Comedy Nominees: Winner: A Tension to Detail Best Dance Nominees: Winner: Solo Community Best Multi-Media or Film Nominees: Winner: Dark Matter Best Music Nominees: Winner: unreliable witness Best Theatre Nominees: Winner: Lovely Lady Lump Best Visual or Performance Art Winner: Bollards: A Comedy of Hyper-Industrialisation GENERAL AWARDS Outstanding Design Nominees: Winner: Dark Matter Best Poster Nominees: Winner: Fist Kisser Most Original Concept Nominees: Winner: unreliable witness Best Emerging Talent Nominees: Winner: Dark Side of the Moon Outstanding Performer(s) Nominees: Winner: Edwin Wright for Manifesto 2083 Special Contribution to Festival Life: The Warwick Broadhead Award: Best in Fringe Nominees: Winner: unreliable witness |
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