This year’s BRIT Award winners will receive two trophies for the first time in the awards show’s history.Â
Renowned artists Es Devlin OBE and Yinka Ilori MBE have collaborated on a double-trophy design, with the aim of encouraging the recipient to give the smaller statuette to someone special in their life, such as a close friend, relative, or colleague.
Speaking to Helen Lamont for the BRIT Awards Show Programme, Devlin explained: “Yinka and I thought that the best award that one could receive would be agency to award another…Each recipient is invited to award the second trophy to someone they consider worthy – it might be recognition – or it might be someone that does something entirely unrelated to music.”
Ilori continued: “The idea came from the experience of lockdown, where your neighbour you’ve lived beside for six years and never say hello to suddenly gave you flowers, foods, acts of kindness. I wanted to capture that…I would describe it as two artists from different disciplines, different inspirations, coming together to design a trophy based around the idea of giving something back – acts of kindness.”
The larger of the two is bold in colour and inspired by the latter’s Nigerian heritageIlori hailed it as “an explosion of colour … a nod to my aesthetic, based around my storytelling theme.”
The miniature trophy, meanwhile, is “engraved with the maze pattern that celebrates the paths many of those working within the creative industries have had to tread in order to progress through this challenging year.”
The awards will be handed out at the ceremony on May 11 at The O2 arena in London.
Last week, it was revealed that the BRITs is set to be the first major indoor music event to return in the UK with 4,000 guests.
Those who attend will not be required to wear face masks once seated and no social distancing will be required.
However, they will have to give proof of a negative lateral flow coronavirus test, which identifies if someone with no symptoms is infectious, before entering the London venue.
What’s more, they will also be tested after the show to see if the COVID-secure measures worked and NHS Test and Trace will be used in case anyone does test positive.
Dua Lipa, Arlo Parks, Joel Corry and Young T & Bugsey lead the nominations this year.
Olivia Rodrigo, Dua, Arlo, Rising Star-winner Griff and Headie One are billed to perform at the BRIT Awards with Mastercard.