"The Award Ceremony was very well thought out and touching. The nominations were excellent and very deserving. Really allowed for the industry to acknowledge the good work of others and leave on a high." Taken from the WOMEX 11 Questionnaire
Since its introduction in 1999, the WOMEX Award has been honouring high points of world music on the international level.
Musical excellence, social importance, commercial success, political impact, lifetime achievement – any or all of these might make one a worthy recipient.
WOMEX presents three Awards every year:
- WOMEX Artist Award
- WOMEX Professional Excellence Award
- WOMEX Label Award
Join us for the celebratory WOMEX Award Ceremony (delegates only!) on Sunday, 21 October from 12:00 - 14:00 (venue tba) and the Networking Breakfast - courtesy of WOMEX - starting at 10:00, marking the end of full five days of music, business and friendly networking at WOMEX. About the WOMEX Award 
Being the mother of all awards, and supporting musical creativity and fertility, it is only fitting that the mother of all and everything serves as the symbol for our tributes in the name of the WOMEX Award. Especially when it is represented by a statue that was created at a time when there was no such thing as Asia or Europe, black or white, first world or third. The Award figurine is an
ancient mother goddess statue dating back about 6000 years to the Neolithic age. It was found in Haçilar in modern-day Turkey and bears witness to the existence of a matriarchal society. Such a female goddess appears in many ancient mythologies as an initial primal figure, representing fertility and procreation either as the earth itself or as a mother giving birth to the world and all the creatures in it.
The WOMEX Award and the figure that represents it stand for life itself. Life is what music is all about … or should that be: music is what life is all about?
WOMEX Awards 99 - 11 So far we - you - have honoured
Juan de Marcos and Nick Gold (1999),
Mahotella Queens (2000),
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (2001) and
Jivan Gasparyan (2002). In 2003 we took two steps further: we honoured
Freemuse - The World Forum on Music and Censorship - an institution for the first time rather than an individual. This was followed by the sixth WOMEX Award in 2004, which was dedicated to
Marc Hollander and Crammed Discs for 25 years of pioneering label work in the field of world music. The 2005 Award was given to the energetic Taarab singer
Bi Kidude from Zanzibar, who was then nearing a hundred years old. In 2006 the Award went to Colombia's incomparable
Totó La Momposina , in recognition of her ground-breaking work for Afro-Caribbean music and dance. The Award 07 paid homage to
Andy Palacio (1960-2008) and Ivan Duran, both of Belize.
In 2008 we refined the Award concept again and gave out two: one to
Muszikás from Hungary and another one to the
Folk Music Department of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. The group
Staff Benda Bilili from DR Congo and French producer, festival organiser, label owner...
Christian Mousset were each given a WOMEX 09 Award. In 2010 we awarded the artist
Danyel Waro, La Réunion, and
Ian Anderson, fRoots, UK, on behalf of the independent press. Last year, in 2011, the WOMEX Awards were presented to
Hugh Masekela, South Africa, and
Francis Falceto, France.
The
Top Label Award launched in 2006 has been presented to the following labels:
World Circuit (2006),
Stern's (2007),
Cumbancha (2008),
Crammed (2009),
world village / harmonia mundi (2010) and
world village / Le Chant du Monde / harmonia mundi (2011).
See our
archive for more information on all WOMEX Award winners.
