2026 USU Creative Awards
2026 USU Creative Awards
Curated by Soha Tasmani
24 August - 25 September, 2026
Andrew Robards, Terminal Velocity, 2024, video still. Image courtesy of the artist.
Open to all students at the University of Sydney (USYD), the annual USU Creative Awards is Australia’s largest cross-disciplinary art prize in the Australian university sector, highlighting the very best of visual arts, short film, writing and music from our student body.
Acting as a microcosm of the artistic student community on campus, the USU 2026 Creative Awards exhibition at Verge Gallery is a great place to immerse yourself in the works of Sydney’s up-and-coming artists, musicians, writers, and filmmakers, and gain insight into the perspectives of our next generation of student creatives.
Visit the exhibition and vote for your favourite works in-person at Verge from 24 August – 25 September, 2026.
Calling all USU Members!
Vote below for your favourite works across the four categories and be in to win an Art Gallery of New South Wales membership for you and a friend! Voting is open until 12pm on 23 September - submit yours below:
Sign up to become a member of USU here.
The USU Creative Awards are divided into the categories Art, Music, Word and Short Film, with each category awarding the following prize amounts:
1st Prize: $2000
2nd Prize: $1500
Member’s Choice: $500
Winners from all categories will be announced on 24 September, 2026.
Online Exhibition
Gang Li, The Restorer, 2026, video still. Image courtesy of the artist.
The views in this exhibition are not necessarily the views of USU. The information contained within the Creative Awards Word publication was correct at the time of publication.
Curatorial Statement
By Soha Tasmani
As the curator of this year's USU Creative Awards, I was privileged to be presented with so many exceptional works. Present across the four categories, each work is infused with the finalists’ distinct style and practice. Although varying in subject matter, many of the works are grounded in personal experience and navigate socio-political events pertinent to young people, USYD students in particular. USU Creative Awards 2026 highlights works that explore a vast range of themes; including place, technology and the digital realm, resilience, memory, identity and transcension.
These are the threads that bind the diverse works.
These threads also bind us, the viewer, to the collective experience as we rarely traverse the world alone. We inherit gestures, stories, rituals, and ways of viewing from our community, often without noticing where they begin or when they become our own. Despite the competitive nature of the show, all works are interlinked, because above else we are human.
Our experiences can feel ordinary, sometimes uncomfortable, yet they form much of the material through which artists make sense of the world around them. Art takes shape as a vessel for these experiences, carrying fragments of memory, identity, connection, and resilience from one person to another. It gives what is often felt privately somewhere an opportunity to see the light.
I recognised I was in the presence of something special as I delved into the technicalities behind the shortlisted works. Looking at art is an easy way to open the window into a realm of ideas and emotions that were previously foreign to me. Each work had a journey before coming together at Verge, as a show which is a whole thing itself.
Whether you’re a student, USYD staff member or part of the community, sign up to become a member of USU here.