Meet The Winners!

Last night, we crowned the winners of the 2022 MullenLowe NOVA Awards! The coveted awards, now in their twelfth year, showcase the most exciting emerging talent, creative excellence, and innovation from the graduating class of Central Saint Martins, the UK’s top art, design and performance school.

The winners of the awards, which are organised by MullenLowe Group in partnership with Central Saint Martins, were announced in a ceremony this Thursday. The overall winner, runners up and recipient of the Unilever #Unstereotype Award were chosen by a panel of expert judges, while the YourNOVA ‘People’s Choice’ Award was chosen by a public vote.

Jose Miguel Sokoloff, Global President, MullenLowe Group Creative Council said: “This is the best body of work we’ve seen, and the best shortlist we’ve ever put together. As always, I am extremely honoured to recognise these talented creators, but it is an even greater privilege to once again meet them in person and see these brilliant minds at work.

Not only did the winning projects show expert craft, in-depth research and boundless talent, many confronted real-world problems, from climate change to societal issues. Year after year, I am amazed by the ingenuity of the students, and I am confident that the winning work represents the very best of cutting-edge creativity in the world right now.”

From using micro-algae to preserve flavours, to celebrating life in high-rises and creating connections for queer women, if you are looking for the biggest and best ideas in the world right now, you have come to the right place! Take a look at the winners below:

2022 MullenLowe NOVA Award Winner: Malu Luecking, MA Biodesign, Landless Food

Malu impressed the judges with her project, Landless Food, which aimed to tackle the loss of bio-diversity. Climate change affects, not only the environment, but whats on our plates too. A loss of biodiveristy has the potential to significantly reduce our spectrum of natural flavours.

“My project is about the extinction of food and flavours, I think this is one of the most underestimated consequences of the climate crises. I was particularly interested in the culinary tradition and the endangerment of food experiences and spirituality” says Malu.

Landless Food proposes a regeneration of humanity’s food system by introducing a new family of flavours that put our culinary memories back on the table. These are based on microalgae, which have recently come into focus for research on the variety of tastes that can be diversified and refined by manipulating their metabolisms. The first results are a line of seafood flavours and a floral spice.

As overall winner of the 2022 MullenLowe NOVA Awards, Malu will receive a cash prize to help pursue her practice. “I have a long list of things I want to do next. One of the things I want to do first is to actually create pop-up dinner experiences, which would be a great opportunity to get into conversation with people and get the flavours out there”

2022 MullenLowe NOVA Award Runners Up: 

Talia Beale, BA Fashion Communication: Fashion Communication and Promotion, To Trudge In Zundon

The media often push negative stereotypes about housing estates, presenting them as a type of cabinet of curiosity for the poor, problematic and unconventional. Through the utilisation of art house film, Talia hopes to explore how this process of film making could subvert ideas about estates and address new voices, specifically creative, queer kids who live there. Talia’s project aims to explore a new avenue, called ‘artestate’ film, which aims to empower communities to represent themselves.

“My project is a reimagining of how estates can be represented, they are usually shown through traumatic imagery and fetishised imagery of gang affiliation – I am just trying to show a new narrative” said Talia. “One of the films which inspired me was Attack The Block…thats the first time I’d seen estates through a fantasy narrative”

Shao Qi Tan, BA Ceramic Design, In Flux: Between Clay and Glaze

Shao’s project is a material-driven investigation into the fragile yet enduring nature of porcelain. Using new techniques, Shao developed a series of viscous sculptural glazes and self-glazing porcelain bodies. The final design collection is a series of sculptural porcelain installations that play with light and space. Shao’s work emulates the effect of sunlight filtering through leaves, fallen petals on water and dew water droplets.

When asked what’s next, Shao says “I’d like to find a studio space in London to expand my practice and to explore new possibilities of the hybrid medium that lies between the boundaries between clay and glaze”

2022 Unilever Unstereotype Award Winner: Qiongzi Zhu, MA Narrative Environments, Her World: A Living Archive for Queer Connection

Her World, by MA Narrative Environment student Qiongzi, is a multi-sensory archive which documents the stories and philosophies of queer women and non-binary people. It acts as a response to the visual-focused world of dating apps that don’t serve women, non-binary people and demi-girls.

Talking about her project, Qiongzi explained “during monthly art therapy workshops, I complied over 70 profiles that showcased inner desires, struggles, joys and passions which then led to an exhibition that showcased these profiles. During the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to explore these profiles, interact with them and then handwrite connection notes to people they fancy or are interested in. In the end, we received over 230 connection notes and many of them became friends or lovers”. Her World will continue to service London’s LGBTQ community through monthly workshops.

2022 YourNOVA ‘People’s Choice’ Award Winner: Antoinette Yetunde Oni, M ARCH: Architecture, The Honourable Harvest 

The Honourable Harvest is an architectural and land-use design project focused on developing a reforestation institute in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Using indigenous construction methods and traditional materials, it aims to boost reforestation in the wider Sahel region of West Africa.

⁣⁣Talking about what spurred her on to create her winning project Antoinette said, “every day internally displaced people arrive fleeing conflict in the region, and in my research I found that the cause is really poor use land use practices that is degrading the environment”. Antoinette hopes the institute can be a place where “farmers, ecologists and scientists, and everyone invested in its health can meet and learn about good land practices”

A huge congratulations to our winning students!