Best of Manchester Awards now looking for entries

Could you be the one to walk away with £2000, a major exhibition at Urbis and the Best Of Manchester 2009 crown?

Do you work in art, music or fashion? Does your work break boundaries, challenge conventions or transcend the ordinary? If so, this could be the year that you are crowned the Best Of Manchester 2009.

Urbis have recently announced that they are now taking entries for this year’s Best Of Manchester awards. The competition is inspired by Manchester’s history as a place of great innovation and creativity. It is hosted by Urbis and judged by a panel of industry-leading professionals including Manchester’s Culture Director Peter Saville, Caroline Elleray (Universal Music Publishing), fashion guru Wayne Hemingway, DJ Semtex (BBC Radio 1Xtra), journalist and art critic Miranda Sawyer, Tim Marlow (White Cube), Jeremy Deller, Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly) and Yvette Livesey (In The City).

Last year’s winners were: artist Naomi Kashiwagi for her work exploring the boundaries between art and music, including a fugue written for eight typewriters and DJ sets performed on gramaphones; Flic Everett and Simon Buckley for vintage clothes boutique Rags to Bitches; and Richard Cheetham for his independent record label, fanzine and club night High Voltage.

The entry rules are simple. There are three categories – art, music and fashion. The competition is open to anyone creating genre-defying, innovative, exciting new work in any of the three categories as long as you are not a full-time student and either live or work in the Greater Manchester area. The application process closes on 1st May 2009.

Winners will receive a £2000 cheque and the opportunity to show their work in a major exhibition at Urbis. For more information, visit the Best Of Manchester website.