Kirsten shines brightest at Absa L’Atelier art awards
Kirsten |
Marguerite Kirsten, a fine artist
from Cape Town, has fought off stiff competition from visual artists from
across Africa to take top honours in the 2018 Absa L’Atelier awards
(www.Absa.africa).
Her compatriot, Philiswa Lila, a
fine artist and scholar from the Eastern Cape (based in Gauteng) walked away
with this year’s Gerard Sekoto Award.
Kirsten won the overall Absa
L’Atelier Award for her installation, Embodiment.
Having grown up, and continuing to live, with various medical conditions,
Kirsten feels her body has become an instrument of the medical fraternity. This
work, comprising various fluids that represent the ephemeral nature of her
body, sought to strengthen and dignify the artist’s physical body in the face
of this perceived objectification.
Lila scooped the Gerard Sekoto
Award for Self-Titled, a series of
self-portraits related to her name, Philiswa, which means ‘be healed.’ The
artist used her name to explore the nuances of language, meaning and
experiences of individualism as recognisable or familiar to collective frameworks
of culture, mainly in isiXhosa.
The Gerard Sekoto Award for the
most promising artist is sponsored by the French Embassy, Alliance Franciase
and French Institute. It is only available to a South African artist who has
previously entered the L’Atelier Awards and who has demonstrated continual
improvement in their art-making.
The three Merit Awards winners
this year were Gillian Abe of Uganda (Seat
of Honour), Henry Obeng of Ghana (Recycle
Frame 2) and Kirsten Eksteen of South Africa (Patterns and Pattern Body) respectively.
These three artists, along with
overall winner Marguerite Kirsten, Carli Bassin (SA) (Shaped), Lemmeze Davids (SA) (Thank
You For My Lunch), Christiaan Kritzinger (SA) (Meltdown: New Aesthetics In Old Landscapes), Ayo Akinwande (Nigeria)
(Shrine), Lodewyk Barkhuizen (SA) (Hat Disguised As Map), and Sikelele
Damane (SA) (Toyi, Toyi, Act 1) were
selected as the Top 10 finalists for 2018.
The Absa L’Atelier awards has
become a touchstone for the concerns consuming young people on the
continent. Works referencing hair styles
as a form of expression, identity and a site of contestation were prominent in
previous years and remained important to a number of this year’s entrants, such
as Nonkululeko Sibande, Lebohang Motaung (both from South Africa) and Darlyne
Komukama (Uganda).
Some artworks offered insights
into the particular conditions and contexts from the artist’s countries of
origin – constant power outages in Lagos, Nigeria, accounted for the unexpected
metaphor between electricity generators and religious shrines by Ayo Akinwande,
for example. Pressing political issues regarding land ownership in South Africa
surfaced in works by Vianca Malan, Mhlonishwa Chiliza, Karla Nixon and Ciara
Struwig, while forced removals and land ownership were mirrored in
Bya'bazzukulu (For Grandchildren) by Donald Wasswa.
Challenging fixed gender roles
was again a prominent theme, as seen in the work of Mzoxolo Mayongo and Matimu
Lloyd Maluleke. These artworks affirm not only the dominance of sociopolitical
discourse, but the artists’ perceptions that contemporary practice is
irretrievably tied to addressing them.
Absa L’Atelier has been shining a
light on promising young African artists’ work for over 33 years. Not only do
the awards identify bright young talent but they provide a solid foundation for
the further growth of these artist’s potential, giving them the opportunity to
step into the spotlight on the world stage.
By highlighting the work of new
artists from the African continent, Absa L’Atelier proves that they are
committed to taking work from where it may have been unknown, in the dark, and
presenting it to a global audience – bringing it to light. This essence
reflects the 2019 L’Atelier theme, Give Art Light, which was unveiled at the
Awards’ gala evening on Wednesday, 12 September 2018.
Dr Paul Bayliss, Absa Art and
Museum curator, says this idea is also in line with the ethos of Absa’s new
Africanacity identity. “Bringing to light the best art on the continent,
lighting up the careers of artists from all over Africa, putting the spotlight
firmly on African artists for more than three decades, and investing in
Africa’s creative economy for this length of time, all represent the spirit of
Africanacity. These are the physical manifestations of the inspirational
Africanacity idea in action,” he says.
The Absa L’Atelier art
competition is jointly sponsored by Absa and the South African National
Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA), and is one of the longest-running and
most prestigious visual arts competitions on the African continent. It was
established in South Africa 33 years ago, but in recent years has been expanded
to include a number of other African countries in order to reach more young
artists and further the unparalleled opportunities it affords those who
participate in the competition.
“The L’Atelier Awards embrace
emerging artists from our continent. This competition has become the voice and
lens through which we experience and access various societies, and has rendered
the borders between our country and the rest of Africa, porous,” says Avitha
Sooful, president of SANAVA.
This year was the first time that
the awards were extended to include Nigeria and Namibia. The newcomers really
shone, with a vast number of outstanding pieces catching the eye of the
adjudicators, who appreciated their interpretation of ‘the contemporary’ with
the African visual art context.
A total of 12 countries now
participate in the competition which, aside from Nigeria and Namibia, include
South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius,
Seychelles and Mozambique.
About Absa Group
Absa Group Limited (previously
Barclays Africa Group) (www.Absa.africa) is listed on the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services
groups.
Absa Group offers an integrated
set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate
and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.
Absa Group has a presence in 12
countries in Africa, with approximately 42 000 employees.
The Group’s registered head
office is in Johannesburg, South Africa, and it owns majority stakes in banks
in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa
(Absa Bank), Tanzania (Barclays Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce),
Uganda and Zambia. The Group also has
representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria, as well as insurance operations
in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
For further information about
Absa Group Limited, please visit www.Absa.africa
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