With only one week to go until the winner of Scotland’s national music prize is revealed at the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) ceremony on Thursday 29th October, ten artists are still in the running to collect one of the most lucrative prize funds in the UK, £20,000, and an exclusive Design Commission trophy.
The SAY Award Design Commission, curated by Local Heroes, highlights the enduring links between music, art and design and this year’s award, fittingly titled ‘Triumph’ and created by Rekha Barry, will be a lasting celebration for all 10 Shortlisted artists of their album’s outstanding achievements. The striking arches are cast in black and white marbled jesmonite with a smooth polished finish and also double as a candle holding table centrepiece.
Each Shortlisted artist will collect their bespoke ‘Triumph’ trophy, along with a prize of £1,000, before the final winner is revealed from 7pm onThursday 29th October via YouTube Premiere. Subscribe to The SAY Award YouTube channel to make sure you don’t miss out.
Speaking about the design, designer and architect Rekha Barry said:
“Being asked by Local Heroes created a brilliant challenge for me, as the intention was for it to have a dual purpose – both award and candle holder. I wanted to create something which was a celebration of the musician’s achievements, and felt great to hold but also was a functional piece of design anyone would be happy to have in the home.
Thinking about how an artist might feel when they’ve been shortlisted for The SAY Award, I immediately thought of triumph. A triumphal arch is a great reference for me as it is a piece of architecture and a sculpture at the same time. I would like to think that my designs can also be found between these two things. Coming from an architectural background, my first point of reference is always buildings. I am influenced by the forms and proportions of classical architecture and creating modern interpretations of this.
I was also inspired by The SAY Award 2020 host city of Edinburgh. Archways are the perfect motif for expressing this city and can be found everywhere. The material I use (jesmonite) when buffed and polished, gives an amazingly smooth stone-like feel which is representative of the city’s fabric.”
Visit sayaward.com for more information about the 2020 ceremony.