Banksy celebrates 25 years of street art with a South Bank Sky Arts Award nomination for Dismaland.

The elusive Bristol graffiti artist has been recognised in the visual art category and will compete against Cornelia Parker for Magna Carta (An Embroidery) at The British Library and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Verses After Dusk at the Serpentine Gallery.

Dismaland opened at a derelict seaside lido at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset in August. Despite its creator Banksy branding it as “crap”, Dismaland sold out every day of its five-week run.

Banksy's Dismaland is up for a South Bank Sky Arts Award  (Ben Birchall/PA)
Banksy’s Dismaland is up for a South Bank Sky Arts Award (Ben Birchall/PA)

The controversial attraction featured migrant boats, Jimmy Savile and an anarchist training camp. Dismaland was dismantled and sent to Calais to be shelter for migrants.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards honours the very best of British culture and achievement.

This year’s ceremony, hosted by Lord Melvyn Bragg, will be held at London’s Savoy Hotel on June 5 and broadcast on Sky Arts.

Melvyn Bragg hosts the South Bank Sky Arts Awards (Ian West/PA)
Melvyn Bragg hosts the South Bank Sky Arts Awards (Ian West/PA)

Among the nominations highlights, the TV adaptation of Wolf Hall consolidates the success of novelist Hilary Mantel’s previous South Bank Sky Arts Awards win in 2013 for Bring Up The Bodies.

The BBC Two historical epic, which starred Oscar winner Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell to Damian Lewis’ Henry VIII, is up against Suranne Jones’ BBC One drama Doctor Foster and Channel 4′s acclaimed Humans starring Gemma Chan.

In a first for the awards, two nominees for the previously announced Times Breakthrough Award have also been nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts Award in their respective categories.

Michaela Coel of Chewing Gum (E4)
Michaela Coel of Chewing Gum (E4)

Michaela Coel’s E4 sitcom Chewing Gum has received a nod in the comedy category, while virtuoso clarinettist Mark Simpson is nominated for The Immortal in the classical music category.

The Londoner will battle it out with acclaimed Channel 4 series Catastrophe and BBC One hit Peter Kay’s Car Share.

Composer Mark Simpson will vie for his award with Stephen Hough’s International Piano Series: Debussy and Chopin, Royal Festival Hall and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: Andris Nelsons’ Farewell Concert, Symphony Hall.

Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina (Universal Pictures International)
Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina (Universal Pictures International)

In the film category, visual effects Oscar winner Ex Machina goes up against 45 Years, starring Academy Award-nominated actress Charlotte Rampling, and Oscar-nominated movie Brooklyn, with a cast headed by Saoirse Ronan.

The awards originated in 1997 in association with ITV’s incarnation of The South Bank Show. Lord Bragg has served as editor and host of the awards since their inception.

Talking about this year’s nominations, he hailed “an extraordinary tapestry of talent.”

Melvyn Bragg is the presenter of The South Bank Show (Ian West/PA)
Melvyn Bragg is the presenter of The South Bank Show (Ian West/PA)

“The South Bank Sky Arts Awards freeze-frame on a unique moment in British cultural history,” Lord Bragg said.

“It’s when 30 nominees in 10 categories across the arts, from opera to pop music, from comedy to theatre, meet to celebrate the best work being done by artists in this country across a wide range of ages and backgrounds.”

The 76-year-old added: “This is the 20th of these annual awards and a ripple through the records shows an extraordinary tapestry of talent ever-changing, but always the same in its high quality.”

Mark Rylance in Wolf Hall (BBC)
Mark Rylance in Wolf Hall (BBC)

Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, said: “We are very proud to be the TV home for The South Bank Show and the South Bank Sky Arts Awards – they are programmes and events that over the years have transcended TV to have a deeper cultural impact, forming a lasting and important record of the arts over the last 38 years.

“The awards themselves bring together probably the most inspiring room full of creative people it’s possible to assemble and, for us, it’s without doubt the most anticipated and exciting event of the Sky Arts year.”

The South Bank Sky Arts Awards will be broadcast on Sky Arts on June 8.