Falmouth University honours four champions of Cornish and cultural identity with 2026 Honorary Awards

Denzil Forrester MBE is one of the most significant painters working in Britain today. He is an artist whose large-format oils have transformed how Black British life and culture are represented within contemporary art.

Born in Grenada and raised in London, he earned his MA at the Royal College of Art. During those years he captured reggae and dub clubs with frenetic figures under strobe lights, in paintings critics have compared to Manet’s engagement with the cafés and cabarets of Belle Époque Paris.

His breakthrough work Three Wicked Men now hangs in the permanent collection of Tate Britain. Other work is held in Arts Council and government collections, while exhibitions and residencies beyond Britain speak to his international appeal and influence.

Denzil has lived in Cornwall since 2012, with recent work showing the influence of his surroundings. He exhibits locally and, with a longstanding commitment to educating the next generation of artists, has worked with Falmouth University’s School of Art.

Edward Rowe is an actor, writer and comedian whose career has become inseparable from contemporary Cornish culture.

Born in Roche, he trained at the London Academy of Performing Arts. His breakout alter-ego, the deadpan, fiercely proud and unmistakably Cornish Kernow King, began as a series of online videos that resonated beyond the Tamar, before his 2014 stand-up show Splann! showcased a performer of real charisma.

In 2015, he was made a Bard of Gorsedh Kernow for his work as an ambassador for Cornish identity. His big screen breakthrough came with Bait and then Enys Men and Rose of Nevada, both produced in partnership with Falmouth University’s Sound/ Image Cinema Lab.

Sanj Srikanthan is one of the world’s most respected humanitarian leaders – a figure whose childhood experience has driven a career spent responding to crisis. 

Born in London, he spent his earliest years in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, before leaving the island as conflict closed in. After university, he served as a Captain in the British Army before spending a decade at the International Rescue Committee, leading frontline responses to disaster, disease outbreaks and conflicts.

Since 2019, Sanj has served as Chief Executive of ShelterBox – the Cornwall based charity that has helped more than 2.5 million displaced people across 98 countries. An influential public voice on forced migration and climate displacement, he is also Chair of a global coalition working to reform humanitarian aid, while supporting the work of the School of Architecture, Design & Interiors.

Gwenno Saunders is a musician, songwriter and cultural figure who grew up immersed in Celtic languages and culture that she has subsequently taken to audiences across the world.

Gwenno's work as a solo artist has been characteristically distinctive. Her debut album Le Kov won the Welsh Music Prize - Le Kov was recorded in Welsh. Follow-up Tresor, written in St Ives and shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, drew influence from Cornish surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun. The album includes a song written for Enys Men, a film made in partnership with Falmouth University’s Sound/Image Cinema Lab. 

Prior to her career as a recording artist, Gwenno's Irish dance training took her to a lead role in Lord of the Dance. From there, she was part of indie pop group The Pipettes, then toured as a synth player with Elton John. 

In 2019, she was made a Bard of Gorsedh Kernow for services to the Cornish language through music and the media. With work that illuminates place, belonging and cultural identity, she has become a vital touchstone for teaching and research at Falmouth University.