Artist grabs the Afrikaner bull by the horns
MBOMBELA - The 2020 Innibos
National Craft Awards' winners have been announced and, among them in joint second place, is a city resident.
Yolandi Diesel entered "Benjamin", a beautifully carved Afrikaner bull skull.
"I wanted to enter a piece that represented our current situation with Covid-19 and lockdown and this is exactly what sparked this idea. The design features the tree of life, the sacred tree, which symbolises that all life on earth is connected and we are all part of something bigger. It is a tribute to a wellappreciated animal that served its purpose and that would naturally decay. I wanted to preserve this remnant of the past by seeing the beauty in death connected to the earth, nature and reproduction. From death to new life."
Diesel carved "Benjamin" over a period of about three months using a rotary tool, with steel chisels and sand paper. The final step was staining the whole skull with coffee.
She carves skulls and sells them for a living. "This piece would go for R30 000. My pricing is based on the size of surface to be carved and also the intricacy of design. 'Benjamin' is a big boy!" she said.
"I have done an Native American design on a sable antelope skull, a protea with gold leaf on a warthog and a rose and thistle design with some African accents on a warthog. Stunning filigree designs on Cape buffalo skulls. All my pieces have a special meaning to me, because each one is unique."
Diesel mentions that this was her first year entering the Innibos Craft Awards.
"A friend of mine encouraged me to enter the competition. It was a lovely surprise to win joint second and I feel honoured to have achieved this placing among the other entries. I found out about having placed second on my birthday, so it was an extra special day for me!"
Organisers of the awards decided to curate an online exhibition - featuring all 60 shortlisted works - rather than postpone the event until after the national coronavirus lockdown.
Inspired by the dashiki, a boldly patterned West African garment, Johannesburg resident Oageng Manana’s handmade chest of drawers most impressed the judges and earned him first place.
Manana's achievement was announced directly after the exhibition on June 26. As overall winner of the annual competition, he pocketed R50 000.
Second place was shared by Krugersdorp’s Pierre Fourie and Diesel. Fourie’s entry was a majestic horse’s head, crafted from hundreds of individual strands of four millimetre-steel round bar.
Third place went to Boksburg resident Clement Maenetja for his stunning range of ceramic plates, created to resemble the enamel plates of his youth.
Now in its fourth year, the Innibos National Craft Awards have seen a steady growth in entries, with 1 360 works being submitted this year.
The organisers pride themselves on keeping the competition as inclusive as possible and were thus thrilled with the number of emerging craftsmen who entered this year, the diversity of entries and the geographic spread of entrants.
The winners shared R165 000 in prizemoney. This year four categories were added to the competition, thanks to the support of the national Department of Arts and Culture. The categories recognise craftsmen who make a living from their talent and who use recycled or heritage material.
The category winners are:
Curios: Saskia de Jager from Colesburg in the Northern Cape (tribal coffee scoops)
Corporate gifts: Zulu Mien from Johannesburg, in collaboration with the Rhubhani project (Bahlezi necklace)
Beading: Sophie Mahlangu from Kameelrivier in Mpumalanga (beaded bicycle)
Recycling: Sibusiso Mlangeni from Orange Farm, Johannesburg (nutcase study).
The Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation spokesperson, Sibongile Nkosi, said at the announcement of the winners that she was pleased the organisers had adjusted to the "new normal" of life during this pandemic by creating an enabling platform for the participants’ work to be acknowledged.
“We are thrilled to honour these artists for excellence and craftmanship,” said Standard Bank Innibos Arts Festival co-founder Sandra Jacobs.
This year’s adjudication panel comprised Malibongwe Tyilo, associate editor of Maverick Life and style consultant; Ayanda Bala-Nyamimba, Craft and Design Institute: market development; Maureen Waldeck, brand manager of Tourvest Destination Retail; Anton Bosch, master ceramicist; Niel Nortje, MTN SA Foundation’s art collection manager and Dawn Robertson, the CEO of Constitutional Hill.
The craft exhibition officially opened Innibos DIGITAAL, an exciting online lineup of archived and new music and theatre productions.
Innibos DIGITAAL’s shows will be available until December, when it is hoped the ever-popular Innibos Arts Festival will, as usual, be hosted in Mpumalanga’s capital city of Mbombela. Tickets for Innibos Digitaal are available from Computicket.
‘The design features the tree of life, the sacred tree, which symbolises that all life is connected and we are all part of something bigger’