Artists receive lifetime awards
The Arts & Culture Trust’s five Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented at a celebration on November 17. The winners are:
● Arts Advocacy (The award is sponsored by Creative Feel magazine)
Her Excellency Lindiwe Mabuza was born in 1939 to humble beginnings but went on to become internationally renowned for her work as a fierce advocate for the antiapartheid movement and the voice of black women through her collaborative poetry anthologies, Malibongwe (1980) and One Never Knows: An Anthology of Black South African Women Writers in Exile (1989). She is a recipient of the Order of Ikhamanga in silver for her work in arts and culture.
● Dance (Award sponsored by JT International)
Adele Blank is a classical dancer trained in the Cecchetti method and has contributed significantly to the industry, helping to create the Johannesburg City Ballet (which later became Pact Ballet Company). Blank was choreographer for the 8+One Company, which was one of the first companies to feature a black dancer on the same platform as a white dancer.
● Visual Arts (The award is sponsored by the Nedbank Arts Affinity)
Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler of the Handspring Puppet Company met in 1981 and their early work was based on creating and presenting travelling theatre road shows for schools in SA. They have continued their outreach and community development programmes throughout the country and are both the recipients of numerous arts and theatre awards as well as honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Cape Town.
● Music (This award is sponsored by the South African Music Rights Organisation)
Dorothy Masuka was a top recording star by the age of 16 and left Zimbabwe to further her career in Johannesburg. She wrote and performed the classic South African song Hamba Nontsokolo. Her songs spoke to the turbulence and hardship that was township life under apartheid. She was forced into exile and returned to Joburg after the release of Nelson Mandela.
● Literature (The award is sponsored by the Dramatic Rights and Literary Organisation)
James Matthews was born in 1929 in District Six, Cape Town. Through his writing, he became a leading voice of black consciousness. His works including Cry Rage (co-authored with Gladys Thomas in 1972) were banned. After his arrest and release, he was more determined than ever to have black people’s voices heard and he started BLAC (Black Literature, Culture and Society) and the first black-owned art gallery.