The South Australian Ruby Awards, also known as the Ruby Awards, are annual awards which recognise outstanding achievement in South Australia’s arts and culture sector. They were named in honour of arts champion Dame Ruby Litchfield (1912–2001) .
History and description The Ruby Awards were introduced in 2006 by the Government of South Australia, named in honour of the late arts patron Dame Ruby Litchfield. She was the first woman appointed to the Board of the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, a founder member of Festival City Broadcasters, and a board member of numerous other organisations, including the Adelaide Festival of Arts, the South Australian Housing Trust and the Carclew Youth Performing Arts Centre.
The Awards were managed by Arts South Australia (formerly Arts SA) until 2018, when they were transferred to the Arts and Culture unit within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.
Since the year of inception, they have grown in number from eight to twelve.
Winners 2006–2009 +Winners 2006200720082009Best Work or Event Honk If You Are Jesus, State Theatre Company South AustraliaIkara – The Meeting Place, Tony Rosella, sculptorWhen the Rain Stops Falling, Brink Productions2008 OzAsia FestivalCommunity Impact (Under $100,000)SALA Festival (2006 Award program included one single award for Community Impact regardless of budget) South Australian History WeekOzAsia Moon Lantern FestivalSeniors on Screen, Media Resource CentreCommunity Impact (Over $100,000)Bundaleer Forest Weekend2007 Feast FestivalPort Augusta Re-ImaginesInnovationDevolution, Australian Dance TheatreElectro Acoustic Project, Zephyr QuartetTrouble on Planet Earth, The Border Project3xperimentia: Live CutLeadership in Arts EnterpriseSpecial projects under development, Craig AndraeFringe BenefitsAdelaide Festival Centre – Scenery and Engineering WorkshopsThe Tragical Life of Cheeseboy 2009 World Tour, SlingsbySustained Contribution by an OrganisationJamFactory Craft and DesignState Theatre Company South AustraliaAdelaide Repertory TheatrePatch Theatre CompanySustained Contribution by an IndividualN/ALeigh WarrenTimothy SextonJane HyltonPremier's Award for Lifetime AchievementFrank Ford AMAnthony Steel AMKym Bonython AO DFC AFCFiona Hall
2010–2013
The Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award was introduced in honour of actor and director Geoff Crowhurst (23 March 1951 – 4 July 2009). Winners 2010 – 20132010201120122013Best EventSoundstream: Adelaide New Music Festival 2009The Adelaide International Cello Festival 2011Barrio, Adelaide FestivalTurner from the tate: The Making of a Master, Art Gallery of South AustraliaBest WorkMan Covets Bird, SlingsbyLife in Movement, Closer ProductionsSchool Dance, Windmill TheatrePinocchio, Windmill Theatre and State Theatre Company South AustraliaCommunity Impact (Under $100,000)Out of the Glass Case: The APY Lands Road ShowOut Blak AdventuresAbout Time: South Australia's History Festival, History SAAuburn Courthouse Cultural Centre, HATS Inc (Heritage, Arts and Traditions)Community Impact (Over $100,000)Windmill Theatre and Mimili Anangu PartnershipCOME OUT Festival 2011 Opening ParadeThe Spirit Festival, TandanyaJust Add Water: 2012 Regional Centre of Culture, Country Arts SA and Alexandrina CouncilInnovation The Mystery of Flying Kicks, Closer ProductionsCACSA Contemporary 2010: The New NewI Am Not an Animal, The Border ProjectIf There Was a Colour Darker Than Black I'd Wear It, by Caleb Lewis, with Rising Damp, Illuminart and Country Arts SAArts EnterpriseFormat Festival 2010Gray Street WorkshopTuxedo Cat Theatre, Cassandra Tombs and Bryan LynaghIlluminart Productions Pty LtdSustained Contribution by an OrganisationRestless Dance TheatreAdelaide Chamber SingersCarclew Youth ArtsAdelaide Cabaret FestivalSustained Contribution by an IndividualMary MooreStephen PhillipsGarry StewartGeoff CobhamGeoff Crowhurst Memorial AwardMargie FischerPat RixCath CantlonOllie BlackPremier's Award for Lifetime AchievementMarjorie Fitz-Gerald OAMMichael MorleyRobyn ArcherMilton Moon
2014–2017 Winners 2014 – 20172014201520162017Best EventDark Heart: 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide Film Festival/Adelaide Festival of IdeasSALA Festival 2014Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia2017 Adelaide FestivalBest WorkAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial, by artists Lee-Ann Buckskin, Tony Rosella, and Michelle Nikou, sculptor Robert Hannaford, and bronze caster Tim ThomsonThe Philip Glass Trilogy, State Opera of South AustraliaGirl Asleep, A Windmill Theatre Co and Soft Tread Enterprises filmSaul – Adelaide FestivalCommunity Impact (Under $100,000)Sons & Mothers, No String Attached Theatre of Disability, written and directed by Alirio ZavarceBarngarla Stories of Resilience, Nexus ArtsDesert Fringe, Adelaide FringeCreating Coonalpyn – Coorong District CouncilCommunity Impact (Over $100,000)Pom Pom: Children's Contemporary Art Space, Carclew and Playford Communities for Children PlusAdelaide Writers' Week, Adelaide FestivalGorgon: State Educational Regional Tour 2016, State Theatre Company South AustraliaSALA Festival 2016InnovationADHOCRACY, VitalstatistixMusic for Strings and iThings, Zephyr QuartetGirl Asleep, A Windmill Theatre Co and Soft Tread Enterprises filmIntimate Space – Restless Dance TheatreArts EnterpriseBowerbird – Adelaide's Design MarketFifth Quarter, Carclew's business incubatorAdelaide Symphony OrchestraN/ASustained Contribution by an OrganisationHelpmann Academy for the Visual and Performing ArtsAustralian Dance TheatreAdelaide Symphony OrchestraTutti ArtsSustained Contribution by an IndividualShane McNeilGrant HancockSally ChanceMargie FischerGeoff Crowhurst Memorial AwardBob Daly and Kalyna MicenkoEdwin Kemp AttrillLee-Ann BuckskinAlysha HerrmannPremier's Award for Lifetime AchievementRobert HannafordYvonne KoolmatrieRob Brookman and Ulrike Klein ( Jointly awarded ) Ian Scobie People's Choice AwardN/AN/AA Kid Like Me – True North Youth Theatre Ensemble2017 UneARTh Festival Whyalla – City of Whyalla and Adelaide Fringe
2018–2023 The 2018 South Australian Ruby Award significantly reshaped the award categories, including individual categories names in honour of the late Kaurna elder Stephen Goldsmith (the Stevie Gadlabarti Goldsmith Memorial Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic and cultural achievement) and local arts icon Frank Ford (the Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award), both of whom who died in the same year.
2018 Finalists (Winners in bold)2019 Finalists (Winners in bold)2021 Finalists (Winners in bold)2023 WinnersThe Awards were held at the Queen's Theatre, Adelaide and the judging panel included eight key industry figures, including Heather Croall, Gavin Wanganeen and media personality Jane Doyle.The 2019 Ruby Awards will be held at Queens Theatre on Friday 29 November. All winners receive a bespoke, ruby-coloured glasswork designed and made at the JamFactory, and a new prize for Premier's Award for Lifetime Achievement was established: a gold nameplate on a seat in the Festival Theatre. The People's Choice Award established in 2017 was not offered.Outstanding Community Event or Project - - -Wild Dog, Jacob Boehme |- |Best Festival| Adelaide Festival 2018 Adelaide Fringe 2018 SALA Festival 2017 WOMADelaide 2018 | Adelaide Festival 2019 AltFest 2019 SALA Festival 2018 OzAsia Festival 2018 |Adelaide Film Festival| - |- |Best Work or Event Within a Festival| Hamlet – Adelaide Festival and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Adelaide Festival 2018) In the Club – State Theatre Company South Australia (Adelaide Festival 2018) Waqt al-tagheer: Time of Change – ACE Open (Adelaide Festival 2018) Place des Anges – WOMADelaide and Gratte Ciel (Adelaide Festival 2018) Counting and Cracking – Adelaide Festival Hotel Mumbai (Adelaide Film Festival 2018) – Producer Julie Ryan and Director/Co-writer Anthony Maras (South Australian key creatives) John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new – Art Gallery of South Australia The Beginning of Nature – Australian Dance Theatre Yabarra - Gathering of Light – Adelaide Fringe | Guttered, Restless Dance Theatre The Pulse, Gravity & Other Myths Clarice Beckett: The Present Moment, Art Gallery of South Australia The Boy Who Talked to Dogs, Slingsby Theatre Company and State Theatre Company South Australia in association with Adelaide Festival and Draiocht |Talk to Me, Danny and Michael Philippou, Adelaide Film Festival 2022Best Work or Event Outside a Festival Beep – Windmill Theatre Co Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay – Art Gallery of South Australia Impersonal Space – Company AT and Tutti Arts On the Terrace – Chamber Music Adelaide Absence Embodied by Chiharu Shiota – Art Gallery of South Australia Amphibian – Windmill Theatre Co The Gods of Strangers – State Theatre Company The Young King National Tour – Slingsby Theatre Company|Decameron 2.0, State Theatre Company South Australia and ActNow Theatre Euphoria, Country Arts SA and State Theatre Company South Australia Seeing Through Darkness, Restless Dance Theatre |Beep and Mort – Series One, Windmill PicturesBest Work, Event or Project for Young People AREA 53 – D'Faces of Youth Arts Inc. Beep – Windmill Theatre Co Neo – Art Gallery of South Australia Ngarrindjeri Yanun (Aboriginal Artist Development Initiative) – Carclew Youth Arts Baba Yaga – Windmill Theatre Company DreamBig Festival 2019 – Adelaide Festival Centre Trust Drop Out – Directed and Devised by Alirio Zavarce and True North Youth Theatre Ensemble Neo – Art Gallery of South Australia | Creation Creation, Windmill Theatre Co Neo, Art Gallery of South Australia Zooom, Patch Theatre|the Boy & the Ball, Stephen NoonanBest Regional or Community Event or Project AREA 53 – D'Faces of Youth Arts Inc. Collectors/Collections: Waikerie Films – Waikerie District Historical Society and OSCA – Open Space Contemporary Arts Mi:Wi 3027 – Country Arts SA SCC Fringe 2018 – Art Engineers (Julianne Pierce), Ashley Sierp and Southern Cross Care Bush Classroom Initiative – South Australian Museum Creative Gathering – Ausdance SA In the Pines – James Harding and Gener8 Theatre Company Vietnam - One In, All In – Country Arts SA | 'Guiding Light' Vietnamese Boat People Monument, RosellaBadios Collaborative DesignThe Heart Beat Club, Access2Arts Euphoria, Country Arts SA and State Theatre Company South Australia |Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black), Derik Lynch and Matthew Thorne with Switch ProductionsAward for Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation or GroupActNow Theatre Stormfront Productions True North Youth Theatre Ensemble Vitalstatistix Brink Productions Nexus Arts Restless Dance Theatre Zephyr Quartet Slingsby Nexus Arts Gravity & Other Myths Closer ProductionsThe Mill AdelaideMade in Adelaide Award (for outstanding artistic or cultural achievement outside of SA by a local show; not to be confused with the Adelaide Fringe Made in Australia Award) Baba Yaga – Windmill Theatre Co Backbone + A Simple Space – Gravity & Other Myths Intimate Space at Bleach* Festival (Commonwealth Games 2018) – Restless Dance Theatre Things I Know to be True – State Theatre Company South AustraliaMemorial Brisbane Festival and the Barbican – Brink Productions Out of Chaos – Gravity and Other MythsRumpelstiltskin – Windmill Theatre Co and State Theatre Company Slingsby Goes Global 2018 - 19 touring – Slingsby Theatre Company The Spinners Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Showcase – Lina Limosani
|Best Collaboration
Floods of Fire, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with Brink Productions, Tutti Arts, Nexus Arts, Julian Ferraretto, Adam Page, Hilary Kleinig, Zhao Liang, Jakub Jankowski, Grayson Rotumah, Luke Harrald and Lab Adelaide