Benedict Cumberbatch Among Artists to Receive South Bank Sky Arts Award

On Wednsday 4 July, London brought together a diverse pool of artists from across the art spectrum at the 2018 South Bank Sky Arts Awards. The award show is the only ceremony honoring all art froms, from Classical Music, Theater and Comedy to Film, Pop, Opera and Literature.
Of the awards ceremony, Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts said, “The Arts in the UK is as vibrant and exciting as it’s ever been – at Sky Arts we are privileged to be able to bring the very best practitioners across all genres to the screen, whether they are the established geniuses in the field or just starting out. The South Bank Sky Arts Awards celebrates the very cream of the crop and we are proud to celebrate it with our brilliant band of viewers.”
This year, winners included rapper Stormzy, who won the Pop award, Paddington 2 for Film, and Maliphantworks for Dance.
“This is as strong as any list we have ever had,” said Melvyn Bragg, who hosted this year’s event. “The arts in the UK, a £92billion industry, are second only to the US. Regrettably, government policy in cutting arts teaching out of so many schools fails to take this on board. This year’s awards celebrate what can happen when arts are encouraged from school-age onwards.”
The Outstanding Acheivement Award, a highly coveted honor, went to actor Benedict Cumberbatch. “I am quite flabbergasted to be receiving this award especially when looking at past recipients,” the actor said. “I am needless to say immensely grateful and humbled. The South Bank Show has always had a place in my heart as being an inspirational exploration of the best of culture so to be recognised in this way by Melvyn and the show is incredibly flattering and I am very humbled to be this year’s recipient. Many many thanks.”
Find the full list of winners below:
VISUAL ART
Presented by: Germaine Greer
Rose Wylie – Quack Quack, Serpentine Sackler Gallery
COMEDY
Presented by: Mark Gatiss
Inside No. 9 – BBC Two
THEATRE
Presented by: Emily Berrington
The Jungle – A Young Vic and National Theatre co-production with Good Chance Theatre. Commissioned by the National Theatre
FILM
Presented by: Eleanor Tomlinson
Paddington 2
DANCE
Presented by: Sylvie Guillem
maliphantworks – Russell Maliphant Company
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Presented by: Guy Garvey
Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder – BBC Philharmonic and the Hallé
LITERATURE
Presented by: A N Wilson
Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret – Craig Brown
OPERA
Presented by: Bryn Terfel
Hamlet – Glyndebourne
POP
Presented by: Malorie Blackman
Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer
TV DRAMA
Presented by: Nicholas Pinnock
Howards End – Playground / BBC One
THE TIMES BREAKTHROUGH AWARD
Presented by: Chi-Chi Nwanoku
Pop – Nubya Garcia
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Presented by: Tom Hiddleston
Benedict Cumberbatch