by Bright Ewuru | Dec 29, 2022 | Articles
It’s that time of the year—when we look back on the successes of the previous 12 months and mark the passage of time through achievements and innovations that inspired and captivated our attention.
Being in the business of recognition, we love taking a moment to look at some of the many stand-outs of the year, whether they be people, inventions, discoveries or achievements.
From provocative forms of art to new feats in architecture and science and environmentalism, these leaders across industries have risen above the others. Some have been recipients of awards programs powered by Award Force. Others are simply recognised for their contributions to their work and industry.
Take a look at a few we think are worth reading about!
The visual arts typically involve painting, drawing, sculpting, installations and more. It’s an inseparable aspect of every culture. This year, a major award winner in the visual arts space was Divya Mehra, who won Canada’s Sobey Art Award of 2022, the country’s grandest prize for modern visual arts, thanks to her mint green Taj Mahal bouncy castle.
According to the National Gallery of Canada, which hosts the award, Mehra’s approach “is defined by its sharp wit, disarmingly playful allure, and attentiveness to language and aesthetics. Her most recent explorations turn towards issues of repatriation, ownership, and modes of cultural consumption that fundamentally implicate both institutions and their publics.”
A notable winner in photography was Mauro De Bettio, the grand prize winner of AI-AP’s American Photography Open 2022 competition (powered by Award Force) for his photograph named “Gentlemen of Kiberia” – an image of a sprucely dressed model, named Baqteria, in Kiberia, the largest slum in Nairobi. The portrait’s outstanding organisation, allure and colour easily make an impression.
The Nobel Prize for literature is deemed the Holy Grail of literary awards. France leads the charge with 16 laureates of this award, and the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature went to French author Annie Ernaux “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”. However, she is the first French woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Annie Ernaux’s body of work, most of which are autobiographical, turned her into a prominent feminist figure.
The breathtaking structures that grace various locations around the world have not gone unnoticed; thankfully, award programs help acknowledge the distinction in architecture. The Architecture MasterPrize (AMP) champions the appreciation of impressive architectural designs across the globe. The 2022 winners of the architectural design of the year were Sou Fujimoto and the Liget Budapest Project for their House of Music, Hungary.
The contemporary cultural landmark is hunched up among the trees of Budapest’s city park and consolidates the idea of harmony and balance with nature. The project takes visitors on a tour through European and Hungarian music.
Separately, Australia’s National Architecture Awards (powered by Award Force) awarded its 2022 National Architecture Awards for The Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture to The Foundry.
This architectural masterpiece by Lead Fjmtstudio is setting a new benchmark for world-class sustainable developments, bringing together leading technology and green design to create a cutting-edge work environment that meets the highest sustainability standards and delivers a leading destination for innovation in a refined and deeply human architecture.
The Foundry | Lead fjmtstudio, fjmtstudio + Sissons – Architects in Association to DA | Photographer: Steve Brown
Following a tradition that began in 1927, Time Magazine has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine as its 2022 Person of the Year. This award goes to a person or event that has had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months.
“Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, Volodymyr Zelensky galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades,” the magazine reported.
The term “spirit of Ukraine” includes Ukrainians across the globe who, in different ways, contributed to the resistance of the Russian invasion.
Popularly termed the Green Nobel, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded yearly to environmental activists at fundamental levels. This award is considered the most significant prize for community-oriented activists and was warded to seven people from different regions of the world for their efforts towards fighting the fossil fuels industry and keeping governments and corporations. The winners were:
Also in major environmental news this year was Yvon Chouinard, founder and former owner of the outdoors brand Patagonia, who merged business with purpose and environmental stewardship as he transferred his company into a chartiable trust and organisation.
Remarkable discoveries in the medical field are noteworthy – medicine is crucial to our existence as humans. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is considered the most prestigious award in these fields.
The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Svante Paabo for his findings on human evolution. He obtained the genome sequence of the Neanderthal, thought to be our closest extinct relative, and made an astonishing discovery of another extinct prehistoric man Denisova.
The information technology space has borne witness to a potential industry disrupter. The new experimental chatbot, called ChatGPT, has ended the year with quite a buzz.
From the kitchens of OpenAI, a major player in the AI space, this chatbot system gives conversational responses to your questions, writes essays, creates ideas from square one and derives its answers from the volume of resources on the Internet. While it’s certainly debatable how accurate or “human-like” it can be, it’s worthy of a nod.
Image/graphic by OpenAI
Clearly, it’s been another year of record-breaking innovation and advancement in our world.
As we move forward into a new year, let’s look to these achievements to inspire and move us forward on the path of excellence and innovation.
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