To mark the week of International Women’s Day 2018, the first-ever Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) has been announced.
Set to take place in Brisbane this October, the awards will spotlight excellence in artistry, technical and production skills, cross-cultural development, songwriting, education, photography, humanitarian work and more from incredible women in Australian music.
The inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards will launch in 2018, set to spotlight excellence in everything from artistry to photography to humanitarianism in the Australian music industry.
Backed by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Jen Cloher, Tina Arena, Deborah Conway, Isabella Manfredi, the inaugural event will take place at the Brisbane Powerhouse from October 9-10, 2018.
“These awards are a powerful signal to our industry, our artists and our audience that female musicians can, should and will take centre stage,” singer Katie Noonan, an artistic adviser of the awards, said at the launch in Brisbane earlier in the week.
The AWMA will also have a strong focus on First Nation artists and acknowledging and including multicultural performers.
“History is finally on our side. We need to grab this moment with an open and united heart,” AWMA founding director Vicki Gordon said.
Aside from the awards themselves, AWMA will establish an honour roll to pay tribute to amazing women who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field.
The gender gap in the industry is as stark as ever, as was made glaringly clear in an investigation published by triple j yesterday.
“With increasing focus on the underrepresentation of Australian women artists on the radio, in festival line-ups, as award recipients and in the boardrooms of the Australian music industry,” a press release for the AWMA reads, “Vicki Gordon says there is no better time to shine a light on empowering and recognising the value, achievements and contributions of women.”
See more details here.
