FBi Radio has announced the winners in the 2021 FBi Sydney Music, Arts & Culture (SMAC) Awards. This year’s Awards celebrated Sydney’s cream of the crop as voted by FBi Radio listeners; acknowledging the resilience of nominees in responding to the ongoing challenges of 2021.
The winners were announced during a live to air ceremony on 94.5FM hosted by FBi Radio broadcasters Adele Luamanuvae and Mia Hull. Even though it couldn’t be held at Phoenix Central Park as planned, the ceremony proved once again that Covid-19 is no match for Sydney’s creative communities. Listen back to the full ceremony here.
FBi Radio has announced that the winner of the 2021 SMAC of the Year is Amani Haydar. Haydar is an artist, lawyer, mother, advocate for women’s safety, and writer. Last year she published her memoir, The Mother Wound, which, among other stories from her life, looks at how she lost her mother to a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. In a long overdue conversation about the insidious nature of violence against women (in many forms at many levels), Haydar’s resilience and strength shine through.
Introducing Haydar during the broadcast, FBi Radio’s managing director Tanya Ali said:
“Despite the heaviness of [her] story, and the anger that in some ways, fuels the work of tonight’s SMAC of the Year recipient – the power of matriarchy and female resilience shine through everything she does strongest of all.”
Accepting the award for 2021 SMAC of the Year, Haydar said:
“To be able to make art about my experience and contribute my story to the literary landscape is a huge honour. And I hope this work helps carve out a space for women from diverse backgrounds to be able to share their stories in an empowering way as well… My work does not and should not end with me. My advocacy does not and should not end with me. We collectively have an obligation to agitate for change, to build solidarity at the intersections of different injustices, and build a future where my work is obsolete.”
This year’s FBi SMAC Awards winners will join past recipients including Sampa The Great, Ziggy Ramo, Julia Jacklin, ONEFOUR, Cloud Control, Kwame, Sarah Blasko, Flume, and Royal Headache among many more.