SOME of the brightest talents from the British Asian community were recognised for their achievements in the arts at the annual Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Awards (ACTAs) at the Mayfair Hotel in central London last Friday (17).

One of Britain’s most accomplished and versatile artists, Osman Yousefzada, won the Eastern Eye Award for Arts for his exhibition, Welcome! A Palazzo for Immigrants, which is now showing at the Venice Biennale.

The exhibition aims to break negative narratives about migrants. Mounted as a solo show in partnership with the Victoria & Albert Museum, it includes handcrafted textile works, prints, images and sculptures, illustrating the artist’s versatility and powerful imagination.

Yousefzada paid tribute to his family for inspiring him to become an artist. “I come from a family of makers – a cast of carpenters. They all made stuff,” he said.

A total of 21 awards were handed out at the glittering ceremony attended by leading figures from across the arts, including theatre, TV, film, radio and music.

The chief guest, Claire Coutinho, secretary of state for energy security and net zero, paid tribute to the artists in attendance, who she said contributed to bringing communities together.

“Our national life would be so much poorer were it not for the contribution made by the people in this room,” she said. read more