Since Unlimited was founded in 2013, we’ve distributed over £6.5 million of funding to 521 diverse, disabled artists. And now, after some pretty tough decisions, we’re delighted to reveal the artists and companies shortlisted for our 2024 UK and International Partner Awards – Unlimited’s main annual artistic commissioning round.
Each shortlisted artist, chosen by our disabled-led panel, is now going forward in the journey towards securing funding to bring their vision to life. Over the coming months, they’ll provide us with further details about their projects, with the final selections announced in March 2025.
We say tough decisions, because this year we received a huge number – 288 eligible applicants in total – with 15% being selected for the final round of assessment. So, we thank everyone on the panel for their thoughtful, considered work. You can find out more about the panellists here.
And of course we thank Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales and The National Lottery through Creative Scotland, which support the UK Partner Awards, and British Council, for supporting the International Partner Awards.
We also thank all our partners: Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Imaginate, Liverpool Biennial, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Oxford University Cultural Programme, Southbank Centre, Span Arts, Summerhall Arts, Tŷ Pawb and Wellcome Collection. And we’re grateful to Sadler’s Wells for its flexibility this year, enabling us to pivot the £60,000 award toward a strategic commission.
The entries demonstrate just how much amazing creativity, innovation and ambition there is among disabled artists. Among the shortlisted projects are an outdoor light installation for the Bradford 2025 commission, that reimagines public spaces; a music theatre piece for blind and partially blind children, for Imaginate’s commission; and an immersive performance piece examining the Rebecca Riots, with Span Arts.
There’s also a bicycle parade of fantasy adaptive puppets, a project blending sign languages and reggae, and disabled actors unpacking movies like My Left Foot and Scent of a Woman to challenges perceptions and urges societal change. Then there’s a collaborative sci-fi geri-drag performance exploring queer geriatric care, a multisensory installation inspired by Welsh landscapes and mythology, and a music theatre piece for blind and partially blind young audiences, among dozens of other brilliant ideas.
Without further ado, please visit the links below to discover all the artists and companies in our UK and International Partner Awards shortlists.