York-based art magazine reaches a huge milestone and celebrates 20 years

York-based art and culture magazine Aesthetica has reached a big milestone – as it turns 20 this year.

Over the years, the magazine’s reach has grown to an audience of over 550,000 across print and digital mediums, it’s stocked in 900 outlets in the UK and exported to 20 countries.

The magazine has become a trusted voice in independent publishing on art, design and photography, and has platformed radical change-makers and activists for LGBTQ+ individuals and the climate crisis.

The organisation is renowned for developing and championing talent with the Aesthetica Awards – these include the Art Prize, BAFTA-Qualifying Film Festival and Creative Writing Award.

The Aesthetica Short Film Festival – which takes place every November – showcases the best of independent filmmaking, championing narratives that have the power to ignite, transform and change the world.

Notable shortlistees include in Cherish Oteka, who went on to win a BAFTA for The Black Cop, Oscar-nominated directors Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei, alongside Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed’s The Long Goodbye – which won Best Live Action Short Film at the Oscars in 2022.

The annual festival includes screenings, masterclasses and workshops and takes place across the city, as well as online.

The Aesthetica Art Prize supports the next generation of artists across new visual media, with alumni that continue to achieve success across the world – including exhibitions at Barbican, Foam Amsterdam, Guggenheim, Tate Modern and V&A.

Founder and director Cherie Federico said, “Aesthetica stands firm in the art world because we are bold, different and never afraid to speak our minds.

“I grew up running this company – it has been the adventure of a lifetime and I feel honoured that I have been able to do the thing that I love the most for the past 20 years.”

There will be a special 20th anniversary edition of the magazine – which will launch ahead of the conference event Future Now Symposium, which runs 23-24 March.

The Aesthetica Art Prize 2023 opens on 24 March and continues until 4 June. Aesthetica invites everyone to join them at the Art Prize and Symposium to help celebrate their 20th year.

To find out more about Aesthetica Magazine, visit their website here.