16th annual Sanpellegrino Cafe Society Awards

Written by Simon Ly

The 16th annual Sanpellegrino Cafe Society Awards and Photography Exhibition was held at the NGV Great Hall last week. The event showcased and celebrated the wonderful works of RMIT students and revealed the many different interpretations that an artist can take when working with restrictions (all photographs had to incorporate Sanpellegrino, surprisingly, in its piece). 

We were grateful when we saw waiters roam the Great Hall to serve platters of food, with our favourite being a creamy pumpkin risotto, sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds and sage. Unfortunately, we were very hungry and devoured it before a photo could be taken (sorry!). 

However, we make up for this with a photo of Madeline Dell’Aquila, the winning artist who unfortunately had to work with another restriction as her cafe - The Paragon Cafe (Carlton) - was subject to a fire only days prior to her shoot. 

Keep an eye out on Sanpellegrino’s dedicated website for an upload of all the 2015 entries, but for now, previous year’s entries can be viewed. From Madeline’s personal Instagram account, we have pulled this year’s winning entry: 

We wish all the RMIT students successful artistic careers in the future and look forward to the various entries being showcased at different exhibitions throughout the summer.