Kudos acknowledges and pays respect to the Gadigal and Bidjigal people of the Eora nation. They are the traditional custodians of the land Kudos operates on. We create, design, share, and exchange our work and knowledge on this important meeting place. We pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to any First Nations people who engage with Kudos. This is and always will be Aboriginal land.
Emerging Artist and Designer Award
Emerging Curator Award
Emerging Writer Award
Kudos has been supporting emerging creatives at UNSW since 1998. The Kudos Emerging Awards is our annual celebration of excellence amongst the artists, designers, curators and writers that form, invigorate and innovate creative practice within our community. The 2024 edition of the Kudos Emerging Awards awarded 1 emerging creative from each category $1,500 to support their practice as well as $500 for the People’s Choice.
The categories of Emerging Artist and Designer and Emerging Curator were judged by Billy Bain, Monica Rani Rudhar and Luke Letourneau. The category of Emerging Writer was judged by Anne-Marie Te Whiu. Finalists in the Kudos Emerging Awards were selected by the Kudos Committee after assessing responses to an open call.
The award recepients of the Kudos Emerging Awards in 2023 were:
Tia Madden - Kudos Emerging Artist and Designer Award
Ava Lacoon - Kudos Emerging Writer Award
Harrison Rae - Kudos Emerging Curator Award
Sophia Olivieri - People’s Choice
Gosha Heldtz - Kudos Emerging Artist and Designer Highly Commended
Tash Brobyn - Kudos Emerging Artist and Designer Highly Commended
Joshua Di Mattina-Beven - Kudos Emerging Artist and Designer Highly Commended
We want to thank the following organisations for sponsoring the Kudos Emerging Awards: Gaffa Gallery, Runway Journal, Vault Art Magazine, Belvoirst, Ritz Cinema, Nava Visual Arts, Elizabeths Bookshop, The Artscene, Dollie and Stella, and Lupa.
Hear the winners of the Kudos Emerging Awards 2025 speak on their creative practices, being an emerging artist and what it's like working in Sydney's creative landscape.
Tia Madden shares thoughts on science fiction, meaning-making and the speculative interpretation of ancient marks while addressing her winning work Cyphers. Harrison Rae speaks to myth-making, counter-myths and art's operative mode while thinking through his winning exhibition Myth and Signification. Ava Lacoon, writer of the winning experimental essay gURLs NVR die on the Internet reflects on Tumblr culture, being a woman online and the legacy of Mark Aguhar.