Press release: Mary Martins, Winner of the CIRCA PRIZE 2022

CIRCA, Dazed and Laure Prouvost Award The #CIRCAECONOMY £30,000 Prize to Mary Martins On Piccadilly Lights during Frieze London

 

London, Friday 14 October, 2022 – Frieze Week culminated last night with Turner prize winning artist Laure Prouvost honouring London-based filmmaker Mary Martins as the recipient of the CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022 #CIRCAECONOMY £30,000 cash prize. Announced by CIRCA commissioned artist Laure Prouvost on the iconic Piccadilly Lights screen during a special 20-minute presentation, Martin was selected from over 1,000 submissions around the world to win the CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022 award.

Mary Martins’ film ‘Something More’ is an experimental animated documentary that explores the impact of youth knife crime in London. The documentary engages with the epidemic on a deeper level as it endeavours to ignite further conversations that question the criminal justice system, the current economic and political climate, all of which point to knife crime as a symptom of a wider societal problem. @marymartinsart.

Guests from the worlds of art, fashion, film, photography and art, gathered around The Statue of Anteros to watch on as the filmmaker Mary Martin was awarded the cash prize of £30,000 and the Class of 2022 trophy, handcrafted by Jermaine Gallacher and Ben Burgis, passed on by last year’s winner Joseph Wilson.

During the ceremony, CIRCA and Dazed also announced the winner of the £10,000 public vote powered by Piccadilly Lights. With over 6,000 votes cast, the public voted to award this prize to Daria Pugachova from Ukraine. Her film ‘MICROCOSMOS’ is a documentary project about life in the post-Soviet neighbourhood in Poltava, Ukraine, at the end of 2021. @outside_observer.art

The CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022 returned for a second year with an open call for new media creators to respond to the theme ‘A Future World’ with a two-and-a-half minute piece of new or pre-existing moving image work. The Class of 2022 is global and open to all – from aspiring filmmakers and creators, budding artists and activists, to performers, poets and gamers – in a bid to discover, platform and celebrate the new visionaries shaping our future through creativity. 

You can watch the films by Mary, Daria and the rest of the Class of 2022 HERE

Celebrations continued into the night at an intimate champagne reception hosted by CIRCA at The London EDITION. Guests toasted the winners with champagne, kindly supported by Ruinart and Belvedere Cocktails, enjoying music by DJ Playing with Knives, Manuka Honey and Lixo.

Guests in attendance included Laure Prouvost, Michèle Lamy, Zara Martin, Josephine Jones, Sir David Adjaye, Daniel Lismore, Olivia Neill, Sano Turdiev, Richard Biedul, Robyn May, Galina Arkhi, Tosin Bodija, Symone Challenger, Qendresa, Florence Baitio, Deneille Percival, Aries Moross, Clym Evernden, Reece King, Laura Weir, Henry Holland, Rasharn Powell, Yinka Ilori, Wade Adeyemi, Fadhi Mohamed, Delphine Primrose, Le Fil, Chi Virgo, Imani Lansiquot, Iwana Cristal, Sarah Halpin, Charles MuminJangani, Michèle Lamy, Josef O’Connor, Daisy deVilleneuve and Mimi Xu.

Class of 2022 was co-created by CIRCA and Dazed to spotlight and support the next generation of artists working in moving-image. With public art spaces diminishing, investment in arts education being cut and artist communities at risk, the joint initiative aimed to empower youth through creativity and platform new voices and points of view from local communities on a global level, giving them unrivalled media exposure whilst also presenting their work to an esteemed jury including Martine Syms, Arca, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Caleb Femi, Kandis Williams, Josef O’Connor, Guido Gregorio Daminelli, Jefferson Hack and Precious Okoyomon, who selected a total of 30 finalists who had their work broadcast around the globe on London’s Piccadilly Lights, Seoul’s Coex K-Pop Square, Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm and Melbourne’s FedSquare.

The prize fund of £30,000 has been generated from the sale of #CIRCAECONOMY prints generously donated by artists including Patti Smith and David Hockney. Since launching in October 2020, the #CIRCAECONOMY initiative has enabled CIRCA to invest in the future of art and culture by continuing its free global public art programme whilst nurturing a more diverse cultural industry and supporting emerging creativ potential.

 

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Click here to download images from the CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022 award ceremony in Piccadilly Circus
Click here to download images from the CIRCA champagne reception at The London EDITION

For press enquiries contact:
CIRCA: Hannah Ridley
press@circa.art

Notes To Editors:

CIRCA
CIRCA is a digital art and culture platform with purpose. We stop the clock on global media spaces every evening at 20:22 and mobilise the world’s greatest creative minds to broadcast unique works that consider our world today, circa 2022. The funds we generate from artist print sales drive the #CIRCAECONOMY – a circular model that supports our free public art programme and creates life-changing opportunities for the art & culture community.

Since launching in October 2020 on London’s iconic Piccadilly Lights, CIRCA has commissioned new work from rising and established artists including Ai Weiwei, Cauleen Smith, Eddie Peake, Anne Imhof, Patti Smith, Tony Cokes, Emma Talbot, Vivienne Westwood, James Barnor, David Hockney & Yoko Ono.

DAZED
Launched in London in 1991, Dazed is the world’s leading independent fashion, culture and arts publisher with a global reputation championing radical fashion, music, art, film, politics and ideas and youth culture.

Dazed is the world’s most trusted voice in fashion and youth culture. Online, in print, on social channels and through campaigns and events, Dazed empowers global youth through creativity. From its London HQ, Dazed operates Dazed Digital, Dazed magazine, and social channels including Dazed and Dazed Fashion. Outside the UK, Dazed has offices in China and Korea, both with digital channels and print editions.

In 2021, Ib Kamara became editor-in-chief and Lynette Nylander became executive editorial director with a mission to represent the times and question the future — bringing to light a global point of view and perspectives that reflect our growing and diverse world.

THE LONDON EDITION
The London EDITION is home to the award-winning Berners Tavern restaurant by Jason Atherton, Punch Room, one of London’s most celebrated cocktail bars, BASEMENT events space a buzzing Lobby Bar and 173 guest rooms and suites, all under one roof. The London EDITION has all the hallmarks of the EDITION brand: lasting comfort, extraordinary style and an exceptional level of service in a uniquely individual environment. Located in central London’s Fitzrovia, The London EDITION brings together, in a delicate balancing act, the integrity and character of a historic building with a simple, sophisticated design sensibility, creating a seamless blend of charisma and ease.

Address: The London EDITION, 10 Berners Street, W1T 3NP
Reservations: +44 (0) 20 7781 0000
www.editionhotels.com/london
www.instagram.com/editionhotels
www.instagram.com/londonedition

CIRCA SUPPORTERS
CIRCA has been made possible by Landsec, landlord of Piccadilly Lights, who have kindly donated media space, as a helpful boost to the cultural scene in London’s West End.

CIRCA is grateful to Piccadilly Lights, Ocean Outdoor, Limes, CJ Powercast, Fed Square, Luxottica and Pendry West Hollywood for supporting our free public art programme.