Sky Arts Awards 2026: Where to watch, Nominees and categories

Preview: Sir Grayson Perry and Self Esteem host 2026 Sky Arts Awards, Live

The Sky Arts Awards will bring a star-studded celebration of British and Irish creativity to television tonight, with the ceremony broadcasting live from London’s iconic Roundhouse at 9pm on Sky Arts.

Celebrating excellence across the arts, the awards shine a spotlight on artists, performers and creative figures making an impact across a wide range of disciplines. Viewers can watch the ceremony on Sky Arts and Freeview, with an evening of awards, special honours and exclusive performances promised.

This year’s ceremony will be hosted by acclaimed contemporary artist Sir Grayson Perry and singer-songwriter and performer Rebecca Lucy Taylor, better known as Self Esteem. Together, they will lead an event celebrating the breadth of artistic talent and the people helping shape the UK and Ireland’s cultural landscape.

The awards recognise achievements across 11 art forms, from classical music, comedy and dance to film, literature, opera, poetry, popular music, television, visual arts and theatre. Alongside the main categories, special honours include The Times Breakthrough Award, The Lifetime Achievement Award and the Arts Hero Award.

With a diverse shortlist spanning established names, emerging talent and ambitious creative projects, tonight’s ceremony promises to celebrate not only artistic achievement but also the people and organisations making culture more accessible, inclusive and relevant.

Grayson Perry and Self Esteem lead the ceremony

Sir Grayson Perry is one of Britain’s best-known contemporary artists, celebrated for his distinctive ceramics and tapestries and his thought-provoking explorations of identity, class and culture.

Since winning the Turner Prize in 2003, Perry has built a wide-ranging career encompassing visual art, television, publishing and performance. His work combines meticulous craftsmanship with sharp social commentary, challenging audiences to consider modern British life and the ways identity is shaped by society.

Joining him as co-host is Rebecca Lucy Taylor, whose work as Self Esteem has established her as one of the country’s most distinctive musical voices.

Taylor earned widespread acclaim with her Mercury Prize-nominated album Prioritise Pleasure, which showcased her bold combination of pop, R&B and electronic influences. Her songwriting and performances are known for their emotional honesty, wit and fearless approach to self-expression, empowerment and individuality.

Her creative work also extends beyond music, with recognition for her performances in theatre and television. Together, Perry and Taylor bring experience across different areas of the arts to a ceremony designed to celebrate creativity in all its forms.

Classical Music: innovation and access

The Classical Music shortlist brings together organisations making the genre more accessible and artists challenging traditional musical boundaries.

Music in the Round and Ensemble 360 — Sheffield Chamber Music Festival are recognised for their work bringing chamber music closer to audiences. Their performances and education initiatives aim to make classical music welcoming to established enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

Anna Meredith is nominated for her adventurous body of work, which combines classical composition with electronic and experimental influences. Her projects cross into live performance, screen scoring and installation, making her a distinctive figure in contemporary music.

Chineke! is recognised for its 10th-anniversary concerts. The orchestra has spent a decade championing Black and ethnically diverse musicians and composers, widening representation in classical music and creating opportunities for performers and audiences.

Comedy: distinctive voices and personal storytelling

This year’s Comedy nominees showcase three individual approaches to live performance, from elaborate character comedy to intimate and outspoken stand-up.

Nick Mohammed — Show Pony takes his eccentric character Mr Swallow into an ambitious stage production combining comedy, magic, illusions and personal storytelling. Beneath its absurdity, the show explores questions of identity, representation and creative freedom.

Sam Nicoresti — Baby Doomer is a personal stand-up show touching on identity, transition, mental health and belonging. Built around the search for the perfect skirt suit, it mixes rapid-fire humour and social observation with emotional openness.

Susie McCabe — Coming of Rage brings the Scottish comedian’s direct and outspoken style to the shortlist. Her nomination recognises her contribution to contemporary live comedy and her distinctive perspective on the world around her.

Dance: collaboration, culture and community

The Dance category celebrates work that uses movement to explore identity, experience and cultural expression.

Marc Brew and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui — an Accident / a Life brings together two acclaimed choreographic voices in a collaboration exploring human experience through movement and performance.

Alesandra Seutin — Mimi’s Shebeen draws on the cultural and social significance of the shebeen, a traditional informal drinking venue in southern Africa. The work uses dance and storytelling to explore community, identity and cultural heritage.

Oluwaseun Alatise — AfroDanceBlast is recognised for a platform celebrating African dance and culture. Its work helps give visibility to a broad range of dance traditions and performers, connecting audiences with the energy and diversity of African movement.

Film: stories that cross boundaries

The Film shortlist brings together literary adaptation, personal storytelling and contemporary drama.

** Hamnet**, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, explores the family tragedy surrounding William Shakespeare and imagines the grief and emotional experiences behind the creation of one of his most famous plays. The film brings an intimate human perspective to a story connected with one of literature’s most celebrated figures.

** My Father’s Shadow**, the feature debut from British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr, offers a personal story shaped by family relationships and the experience of Nigeria. Its nomination highlights a distinctive filmmaking voice bringing Nigerian history and lived experience to the screen.

** Pillion** explores intimacy and relationships through a queer perspective, bringing a distinctive approach to contemporary cinema. Its place on the shortlist reflects the breadth of storytelling represented in this year’s film category.

Literature: novels and ideas that challenge readers

The Literature nominees span family relationships, inherited stories and humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

Wendy Erskine — The Benefactors marks a major milestone for the writer known for her short fiction. Her debut novel is recognised for its emotionally complex exploration of people and relationships, building on the qualities that have made her short stories widely admired.

Oyinkan Braithwaite — Cursed Daughters follows the success of her novel My Sister, the Serial Killer. The book explores family, inheritance and the possibility of a curse, using Braithwaite’s distinctive storytelling to examine complicated family dynamics.

Robert Macfarlane — Is a River Alive? asks readers to reconsider how they understand rivers and the natural world. Blending literary exploration with environmental questions, the book challenges the idea of nature as simply a resource for human use.

Opera: powerful stories and new possibilities

The Opera category includes a celebrated classic, a confronting modern work and an ambitious contemporary collaboration.

Welsh National Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru — Peter Grimes brings Benjamin Britten’s acclaimed opera to the shortlist. Its story of a fisherman living under suspicion and hostility from his coastal community explores isolation, prejudice and the destructive consequences of collective judgement.

English National Opera — Dead Man Walking confronts capital punishment, justice and forgiveness. Based on the experiences recounted by Sister Helen Prejean, the opera uses the emotional power of the form to engage with difficult moral questions.

Irish National Opera and Jennifer Walshe — MARS represents a more experimental approach to opera. The collaboration pushes at the boundaries of the form, exploring contemporary ideas through an ambitious combination of music and performance.

Poetry: giving voice to overlooked stories

The Poetry shortlist recognises work that brings writers and audiences together, explores identity and preserves stories that might otherwise be forgotten.

Danny Carlo Pandolfi — Raise the Bar is nominated for a poetry platform that supports both established and emerging voices. Through major events, open-mic nights, workshops and courses, it helps make spoken-word poetry more accessible and gives writers opportunities to perform.

Ashley Hickson-Lovence — Why I Am Not a Bus Driver? explores grief, love, memory, identity and community. The collection also engages with race, class, masculinity and belonging, bringing personal experience into conversation with wider social questions.

Joelle Taylor — Maryville revisits decades of lesbian history and queer underground culture through the imagined world of the Maryville butch bar. Combining poetry, oral history and testimony, the collection preserves overlooked stories of queer London while exploring exclusion, resilience and community.

Popular Music: fresh sounds and individual expression

The Popular Music category highlights artists bringing their own perspectives and genre-blending approaches to contemporary music.

CMAT — EURO-COUNTRY sees the Irish singer-songwriter continue to challenge musical boundaries. Her third studio album combines distinctive songwriting and unconventional pop sensibilities, reflecting her individual approach to contemporary music.

Jim Legxacy — black british music is recognised for its personal exploration of Black British identity. The project’s genre-blending sound and intimate approach make it one of the shortlist’s distinctive musical statements.

Jacob Alon — In Limerence brings emotional vulnerability to the category. Alon’s work explores intense feelings and personal experience, establishing a distinctive emerging voice centred on expressive songwriting.

Television: drama and documentaries with impact

The Television shortlist features one intimate drama and two documentaries examining major human stories and events.

** Babies — BBC One** places family life and the emotional experiences surrounding babies at the heart of its story. Its nomination recognises a drama described as heartbreaking, bringing intimate human experiences to the screen.

** Grenfell: Uncovered — Netflix** examines the Grenfell Tower fire and the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. The documentary represents the role of investigative television in exploring events of profound public importance and bringing attention to the experiences of those affected.

** Gaza: Doctors Under Attack — Channel 4** focuses on medical professionals working amid the conflict in Gaza. Its nomination highlights challenging factual television examining the pressures and dangers faced by healthcare workers in a humanitarian crisis.

Visual Arts: nature, identity and cultural memory

The Visual Arts shortlist celebrates artists whose work challenges audiences to reconsider their relationships with the environment, society and history.

Andy Goldsworthy — Fifty Years reflects on the artist’s longstanding relationship with the natural world. The major exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy brought together work using natural materials, sculpture and the surrounding architecture to explore connections between people and landscapes.

Linder — Danger Came Smiling celebrates five decades of work by one of Britain’s influential contemporary artists. Spanning photomontage, photography, performance, fashion and sculpture, the exhibition traced her career from the punk scene of 1970s Manchester. Her work challenges conventional ideas about gender, sexuality, consumerism and power.

Julianknxx — Shifting / Spirit / Time is an ambitious multi-screen film installation combining performance, poetry, song and sound. It explores memory, cultural inheritance and belonging, asking how stories and traditions survive across generations.

Theatre: confronting the past and creating opportunities

The Theatre nominees demonstrate how performance can revisit difficult history, examine personal responsibility and create new opportunities for artists.

Graeae Theatre Company — Bad Lads draws on the testimonies of boys held at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham during the 1970s and 1980s. Written by Mike Kenny and Jimmy Coffey, the production confronts a painful chapter of British history through personal testimony and direct storytelling, with accessibility central to its approach.

KPPL Productions — Punch, adapted by James Graham from Jacob Dunne’s memoir Right from Wrong, examines the consequences of a single punch and the possibility of forgiveness and rehabilitation. Following its success in the West End, the production has also worked to widen access through affordable tickets, school partnerships and charitable collaborations.

Michael Sheen — Welsh National Theatre recognises Sheen’s work establishing Welsh National Theatre with Sharon Gilburd and Tim Price. The organisation aims to create opportunities for Welsh writers, actors and theatre-makers, bringing Welsh stories to audiences and helping develop the nation’s creative talent.

The special awards: breakthrough talent, lifetime achievement and unsung heroes

Alongside the 11 art-form categories, the Sky Arts Awards will present special honours recognising contributions to the arts in different ways.

The Times Breakthrough Award celebrates emerging creative talent and recognises those making a significant impression in their fields. The 2026 nominees include playwright and actor Nancy Farino, composer Ben Nobuto and journalist and author Harry Shukman, whose work spans theatre, contemporary classical music and investigative writing.

The Lifetime Achievement Award honours an individual whose contribution to the arts has made a lasting impact over the course of their career. It recognises the dedication, creativity and influence of people whose work has helped shape their disciplines.

The Arts Hero Award shines a light on people whose contributions may take place away from the spotlight but are essential to helping others succeed. For 2026, the award celebrates the mentors, teachers, colleagues and champions who have encouraged someone to pursue a talent, passion or creative path they might never otherwise have followed.

These individuals can play a pivotal role in a person’s journey, building confidence, offering guidance and recognising potential before someone sees it in themselves. The award highlights how the arts depend not only on performers and creators but also on the people who support and inspire them.

Exclusive performances promise a special evening

The Sky Arts Awards are about more than announcing winners. The ceremony will also feature exclusive musical and artistic performances, bringing together talent from different disciplines for collaborations created especially for the event.

That mix of awards and performances offers an opportunity to see the arts in conversation with one another, celebrating established names while giving audiences a glimpse of new ideas and emerging creative voices.

With nominees spanning classical composition, live comedy, contemporary dance, film, books, opera, spoken-word poetry, popular music, television, visual art and theatre, the ceremony reflects the variety of creative work taking place across Britain and Ireland.

How to watch the Sky Arts Awards tonight

The Sky Arts Awards 2026 will be broadcast live tonight at 9pm on Sky Arts and Freeview, from the Roundhouse in London.

Viewers can explore the full nominee lists on the official Sky Arts Awards website:

Whether celebrating established artists, discovering emerging talent or recognising the unsung champions who help creativity flourish, tonight’s Sky Arts Awards promises a wide-ranging tribute to the people and ideas that keep the arts thriving.

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