GUAP Launches GUAP Gala: Celebrating Creative Excellence

For the past 7 years, GUAP has been dedicated to platforming and championing the emerging creatives. Now, GUAP takes this celebration to the next level with the launch of its inaugural GUAP Gala – Celebrating Creative Excellence. 

Hosted at the National History Museum in Mid September, the GUAP Gala is an experiential award show and gala celebrating creative excellence. This renowned museum will now be transformed, to celebrate GUAP’s history in the making. GUAP Gala is rewriting history and allowing the history makers to tell their own stories. 

GUAP Gala will show not just the city, but the world, the power of creatives. The work of creatives, across all sectors, is undeniable. But roles such as makeup artists and stylists, are often overlooked publicly and in awards despite their contribution to visual campaigns. GUAP works with these creatives all year round to create the leading, visual content that we put out all year, so the GUAP Gala will highlight the creatives that are often overlooked. 

With 21 award categories such as Best in hair, Podcast of the Year, Fashion Brand of the Year and Model of the Year, the Gala will honour both legendary icons and future stars, all under one roof. 

Born in Peckham, GUAP began 7 years ago as a way of showcasing emerging, underrepresented creative talent in the capital. It now continues to grow beyond that – as a magazine, video-led website, social media community and creative agency for brands and events. 

“Building an ecosystem for diverse creatives to flourish has been the goal from the start. We are finally at the stage where we can truly elevate and celebrate creative excellence in a way that does the community justice and helps to cement the legacy of the many unsung heroes of the culture.” – Jide Adetunji (GUAP Co-Founder)

In its inaugural year, the first-ever recipient of the Legacy Award will posthumously be given to Jamal Edwards. Jamal Edwards will always be remembered for his contribution to the UK music scene, through his platform SBTV. Not only this, Jamal tirelessly worked to help give young people from his community the opportunities that he gained throughout his career. Jamal’s passion united art, culture, music and fashion, inspiring GUAP and creatives alike. Jamal Edward’s story and successes have solidified him as a hero in the culture – more than worthy of receiving this Legacy award. 

For the remaining 20 award categories, GUAP has carefully assembled an excellence panel with some of the most influential and pioneering names in the creative scene. Host, DJ and all-around creative Julie Adenuga sits at the forefront of music and culture and will be lending this expertise to the award process alongside Disturbing London founder Dumi Oburota and graphic designer Aries Moross, with several more members to be announced in the next weeks. 

The GUAP Gala is going to be the jewel in the GUAP crown. The visuals shared thus far are only a taster of the immersive experience which is to come. Celebrating GUAP’s story from day one, and the bright future that it has ahead of it, the theme for the inaugural GUAP Gala will be “Fairytales”. The night will explore the hardship and challenges of the journey as a creative, all while engaging in a glorious celebration of creativity. It is merely the beginning of a huge story which will soon begin to unfold. 

With the categories to be announced in the coming weeks alongside the nominees, please visit guapgala.com to stay up to date and to find out how you can get involved.