SL to have South Asia’s first Epica Awards to recognise and reward local creative talent

4As General Secretary Shane Wilson, Board Advisor Sheron Jayasundara, President Sugibun Sathiyamoorthi, IAA Sri Lanka Chapter President Tharaka Ranwala and Past President Laila Gunasekara at the media briefing – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) team

The Sri Lankan Chapter of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) has partnered with the globally renowned Epica Awards to launch a special edition of the awards for the first time in Sri Lanka. 

The Sri Lankan Epica Awards Event will take place on 16 and 17 August and will include a one-and-a-half day conference featuring sessions and workshops by local and international creative industry professionals, culminating in the Awards ceremony. 

The Epica Awards were established in 1987 in France to reward outstanding creativity in advertising, design, media, PR and digital. The most unique aspect of these awards is that the jury panel consists of journalists from around the world working for more than 200 marketing and communications magazines and websites such as Adweek, Creative Review, Shots, C-NET, and Forbes. 

Epica Awards currently attracts entries from agencies, production companies, media consultancies, photographers and design studios from over 70 countries. 

4As Sri Lanka President Sugibun Sathiyamoorthi said: “We are delighted to partner with Epica Awards to host the first creative industry awards ceremony in Sri Lanka in over a decade. Although many local agencies have won recognition at international award shows, as a fraternity we definitely feel the absence of a local platform to showcase work to a jury of international standards, and to engage in healthy competition. 

“By partnering with Epica Awards, we have the opportunity to organise an international standard event, and to also have a bias-free and objective jury of regional and international journalists to judge all entries.” The jury for the Sri Lankan edition of the Epica Awards will consist of journalists who specialise in advertising, marketing, production, design, luxury branding and virtual reality, including some of the members who serve on the panel of the main Epica Awards. Epica Awards Editorial Director and International Jury Moderator Mark Tungate will chair the jury for the local edition of the competition and also be part of the final panel of judges in Sri Lanka. 

“The Epica Awards Sri Lanka is the perfect platform for all those involved in the creative field, be it advertising agencies, media stations, production houses, app developers, content creators, photographers or illustrators, to showcase their great work and be recognised for it. We welcome creative work developed on multiple platforms, from established organisations and freelancers alike. 

We want the competition to be as inclusive as possible, so that this would be a true celebration of all creativity in the country. We also believe that healthy competition can motivate and inspire us to be better and create more exciting work for clients and consumers,” said International Advertising Association (IAA) Sri Lankan chapter President Tharaka Ranwala.