The Jury

Creative Director & Joint CEO of Trigger. Director of PoliNations (Unboxed/Birmingham 2022), Each Tiny Drop (MIF 2023 opening ceremony) and The Hatchling. Read more

Creative Director at Somerset Film, leading digital storytelling, heritage and community filmmaking projects across the South West. Two decades of experience across film, theatre and digital media. Read more

Artist, writer and course leader for MA Arts and Education Practices at Birmingham City University. Part of the creative team at Vivid Projects, Birmingham, where they lead the Black Hole Club artist development programme. Read more

Writer and art historian focusing on Black artistic practice, archives and cultural memory. Founding member of Thick/er Black Lines and co-creator of the Blk Art Map. Writing published in Frieze, Hyperallergic and RA Magazine. PhD researcher at the University of Birmingham. Read more

Artistic Director at Open School East, Margate. Former Education Curator at Liverpool Biennial and Serpentine Galleries. Founder of Avant Gardening. Read more

Founder and Artistic Director of the Bureau of Silly Ideas, a Brixton-based not-for-profit bringing art, humour and surprise into public spaces since 2002. Read more

Chief Executive of the Bernie Grant Arts Centre and founder of Dear Creative Gurl, widening access to creative careers. Board member of the London Museum, BAFTA member and FRSA. Read more

Curator and Creative Producer at Venture Arts, leading its international and collaborative programmes with learning disabled and neurodivergent artists. Curatorial practice underpinned by social justice, access and culture for all. Read more

Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Kakilang, developing cross-disciplinary work foregrounding underrepresented narratives.Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Kakilang, developing cross-disciplinary work foregrounding underrepresented narratives. Host of the Ming Strike podcast. Read more

Lucy Barnes is the Exhibitions and Residencies Manager at LEVEL Centre, where she is a part of the Senior Leadership Team who deliver a nationally significant programme of digital and visual arts exhibitions. Read more

Pioneering feminist artist whose performance, drawing and installation practice has been shown at Tate Britain, the Barbican, the ICA and internationally since the 1970s. Read more

CEO at The Black-E, a national participatory arts centre in Liverpool with nearly 60 years of connecting artists and communities through cultural equity. Read more

Producer and curator at QUAD and FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby – the UK’s leading international contemporary festival of photography and related media. International reviewer for Belfast Photo Festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles and Triennial of Photography Hamburg. Curator of exhibitions shown across the UK and at Lishui Photography Festival, China. Read more

Curator at QUAD and FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby. Works across photography, moving image and socially engaged practice with a focus on cross-cultural dialogue and politically engaged contemporary art. Recent projects include FORMAT25, Lawrence Lek: Nepenthe (Summer Palace Ruins) and REFLECTOR at the New Art Gallery Walsall. Read more

Founder and creative director of The Dyás and host of The Creative Corner podcast. Multidisciplinary creative working at the intersection of art, fashion, and culture — transforming artworks into wearable pieces through responsible production. Finalist for the UK Start Up Awards, Drapers Conscious Fashion Awards and Marie Claire Sustainability Awards. Read more

Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum & Gardens and dancer, zine-maker and hair heritage activist. Led the Horniman’s award-winning African and Caribbean Collections Research Hub on co-curation and repatriation. Read more

CEO of Rosetta Arts, the Newham-based community visual arts charity. Former Arts and Culture Manager at Ealing Council and Relationship Manager at Arts Council England, with a multi-decade background as an artist. Read more

Director of Ffotogallery in Cardiff, the national development agency for photography in Wales. Background in higher education and photographic practice, with a focus on feminist practice and marginalised voices in the arts. Read more

Curator and Arts Producer with over 20 years’ experience, programming projects for Signal in Barrow-in-Furness. Curator of Felicity Hammond’s Lumen Prize-winning In Defence of Industry and a UK re-staging of Daniel Buren’s Voile Toile / Toile Voile. Read more

Director and Co-Founder of Counterpoints Arts, the UK-based organisation working at the intersection of arts, migration, and social change. Also Creative Director of Counterpoint Productions and co-founder of the Footnote x Counterpoints Prize. Read more

Director acta Director Firstsite Oliver is the Director of acta, a large community theatre and Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation based in Bristol. He has previously worked for organisations including Cambridge Junction, Trestle, Theatre Royal Plymouth, and the National Youth Theatre. He was also previously the Director of Creativity Works, an arts and health… Read more

Curator Director Firstsite Moritz Cheung is an independent curator, working primarily on public programmes of artists’ film and video works, and Asian contemporary art. He has worked in both non-profit and commercial arts and cultural sectors, including museums, galleries, art fairs (Art Basel Hong Kong), biennale festivals (Venice Architecture) and art organisations. He is currently… Read more

Co-founder and Executive Director Inspirate Director Firstsite Jiten Anand is Co-founder and Executive Director of Inspirate, a Leicester-based National Portfolio Organisation. The social enterprise produces a rich array of arts programmes that fosters collective experiences, celebrating culture, sparking reflective dialogue, encouraging open conversations and inspiring social action. A visionary cultural entrepreneur, Jiten thrives on building… Read more