Margaret Tait Award 2019/2020 Nominations Open

Part of Margaret Tait Commission

Margaret Tait and Peter Hollander, Perugia 1952. Courtesy of Alex Pirie and Orkney Library and Archive.

LUX Scotland is pleased to announce that the call for nominations for the 2019/​20 Margaret Tait Award opened on 15 October 2018. The Margaret Tait Award is Scotland’s most prestigious moving image prize for artists. Inspired by the pioneering Orcadian filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait (1918 – 99), the award recognises experimental and innovative artists working with the moving image, offering a unique avenue of commissioning and production support and providing a high profile platform to exhibit newly commissioned work.

Established in 2010, the Margaret Tait Award is a LUX Scotland commission delivered in partnership with Glasgow Film, with support from Screen Scotland. The only award of its kind in Scotland, it allows LUX Scotland, Glasgow Film and Screen Scotland to make a lasting and meaningful impact on the careers of new filmmaking talent, support new commissions and forge new partnerships across the sector.

Each year, the Award is presented to a Scottish or Scotland-based artist who has established a significant body of work over the past 5 – 12 years; is recognised by peers for their contribution to the artists’ moving image sector; and can demonstrate the significant impact that the award will have on the development of their practice. The recipient of the award will receive a £15,000 prize to produce ambitious new work, which is exhibited at the Glasgow Film Festival the following year and will subsequently tour with LUX Scotland.

Eligible artists are nominated through an open call process, which allows anyone (the general public, as well as arts professionals and artists) both within and outwith Scotland to put forward an artist. Nominations are assessed by a jury of artists and professionals from across the fields of the visual arts and cinema. Shortlisted artists are then asked to present proposals for the commission.

Alberta Whittle, recipient of the 2018/​19 award, will present her new film at Glasgow Film Festival 2019. The 2019/​20 award will be announced at this screening, and a reception for both Whittle and the new recipient will be held afterwards.

Who can be nominated?

  • Artists who are Scottish and/​or based in Scotland.
  • Artists who have developed a significant body of work over the past 5 – 12 years and are at the cusp of a major impact on the artists’ moving image sector.
  • Artists who are contributing to the critical context of artists’ moving image production in Scotland at the time of nomination.
  • There is no age restriction.
  • We regret that we cannot accept nominations of artists who are students.

How to nominate:

Please send 200 words on the artist’s career to date, their impact on the sector and your reasons for nominating. Please include a link to the artist’s website or an online example of their work, as well as the artist’s email address and phone number.

Nominations should be sent by email only to email hidden; JavaScript is required

Deadline for nominations is 9am on Monday 3 December 2018

The shortlist will be announced on Monday 17 December 2018.

The recipient of the 2019/​20 Margaret Tait Award will be announced at Glasgow Film Festival 2019 (20 February – 3 March 2019). Previous recipients have included Alberta Whittle, Sarah Forrest, Kate Davis, Duncan Marquiss, Charlotte Prodger, Rachel Maclean, Anne-Marie Copestake and Torsten Lauschmann.

We are delighted to announce this year’s jury: Richard Ashrowan (Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival); Kate Davis (2016/​17 Award recipient); Kate Gray (Collective); Sean Greenhorn (Creative Scotland); Richard Parry (Glasgow International); Adam Pugh (Tyneside Cinema); Amy Sherlock (frieze); Nicole Yip (LUX Scotland, chair) and Sadie Young (Timespan).

Part of Margaret Tait Commission

The Margaret Tait Commission is a LUX Scotland commission delivered in partnership with Glasgow Film, with support from Creative Scotland.

Learn more