Pupils win art awards, draw attention to global problems
Waterfront Film Studios.
An English and a partAfrikaans version of this film have been made in a first for the South African feature-film landscape. DURBAN matric students, Joshua Hales and Matthew Phipps are the only South Africans to have won awards in the Poland International Art Competition.
Both from Glenwood Boys High School, Hales and Phipps said they were delighted to have been awarded distinctions in their submitted art works.
The school said they “were the only South Africans to have won awards in the competition” which had more than 25 000 art entries from 46 countries, such as France, Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.
The title for the competition was “Different Look”, with the theme “Here and Now”.
Hales said in a world which has withdrawn into social media platforms with endless attention to phones, he focused on the beauty of nature.
“Today, we are used to sitting there on our phones, it’s all about social media and we are not aware of the world around us.
“Go out and explore nature. I focused on flowers and plants and it has a surrealistic edge,” said Hales, adding his favourite artists were Alexis Preller and Salvadore Dali.
Phipps described his work as “quite political. I looked at problems in our world, such as the water shortage, although it also has a surreal touch.”
The pair use graphic material such as pencil and chalk pastels, although Phipps said his preference was colour pencils. Once he has completed his matric, he is hoping to study industrial or mechanical engineering, although architecture is also an option. Hales said he wanted to study graphic design or architecture.
This is the second consecutive year in which Hales and Matthews have represented South Africa, attaining distinctions in last year’s competition which is sponsored by the UN Children’s Fund and the Museum of Sosnowiec among others.