Province’s artists nab prestigious awards
UP-AND-COMING young artists from the Eastern Cape this week proved the province to be a fertile breeding ground for talent, with two of the four Arts and Culture Trust Impact Awards scooped up by local inhabitants.
Port Elizabeth singer Nomfundo Xaluva took top honours in the music category, while Thabo MakhethaKwinana won the design category.
Bevan de Wet, who studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, was the winner of the Visual Art category and Jade Bowers clinched theatre category award.
The Impact Awards honour young professionals who have promising careers ahead of them and who have already made a mark in the world of arts and culture on home soil.
The finalists are nominated by the public, and adjudicated by a chosen panel of expert judges.
Adding to the tally of Eastern Cape wins was Port Elizabethconductor Richard Cock, who went to Woodridge College, and was honoured in the Lifetime Achievement category for his contribution to music. Other Lifetime Awards included Sam Nzima for visual arts, Richard Loring for theatre and André P Brink for literature.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for Arts Advocacy honours patrons in the arts who have devoted a lifetime of work to supporting the arts, and this year it went to Mandie van der Spuy.
Makhetha-Kwinana, who last year was named as one of House and Leisure Magazine’s 2013 Rising Stars, said: “Winning the Impact Award for Design is a wonderful honour for me and my team.
“This award is an endorsement of our vision to create fashion garments that make women feel beautiful, sophisticated and African.”
The designer’s company has already begun plans to roll out an online store targeting the international market.
Equally excited was Xaluva, who was introduced to classical piano at the age of 12, while at Victoria Girls Primary Boarding School in Grahamstown. She went on to complete her master’s degree in jazz studies at the University of Cape Town.
Xaluva, who has shared the stage with jazz legends by the likes of Sibongile Khumalo, said: “Winning this award is a great catalyst to shift my music career into the next phase. I’m extremely grateful and humbled by the acknowledgement and recognition associated with this award.”
The judging panel was headed by ACT ambassador and creative professional Caroline Smart, along with visual artist David Koloane, arts education and heritage activist Nadia Virasamy, jazz legend Herbie Tsoaeli, 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Prince Lamla and culture and craft mentor Eugenie Drakes.