KZN ARTISTS TO GET START-ED!

Visual artists over 18 and at the early stage of their art career are invited to enter prestigious competition.

Visual artists of all art mediums, with an exception of video, residing in KwaZulu-Natal have the opportunity to get their career off to a flying ‘start’ by entering the fifth START THE NIVEA ART AWARD. This exciting competition provides the opportunity for one talented artist to win R20,000 cash, a sponsored art studio and art materials for six months and a solo exhibition at KZNSA Gallery.

In addition, the second and third prize winners will take home R10,000 and R5,000 cash respectively. At an awards ceremony to be held on July 14, 2009, the three winners will be announced and the cash prizes presented.

Mitja Zupancic, Managing Director of Beiersdorf South Africa, comments, “For the many extremely talented artists in KwaZulu-Natal, turning their talents into a career is just a dream. Sadly, limited opportunity and means prevents most of the undiscovered talent in this region from turning mainstream. Through START THE NIVEA ART AWARD, we are able to help some of these artists each year to kick start their careers in the visual arts.”

To qualify, artists must be over 18 years of age and should be at the early stage of their art career, having not yet won any previous prestigious art awards. For the first time, the competition is now open to all visual art mediums except video.

To enter, artists should submit an entry form together with an art portfolio comprising no less than three A5 size photographs of their best existing artworks, as well as short curriculum vitae of their art career.

From entries that come in from throughout KwaZulu-Natal, 60 artists will be short-listed and will be required to submit one of their best artworks to KZNSA Gallery. A distinguished panel of judges will select 25 finalists from these 60 artworks. The 25 finalists will each receive R1,500 from Beiersdorf to create a unique, commissioned artwork, within a three-month time frame. The artists are required to incorporate this year’s theme, Beauty Is ... into their competition piece. All artworks will be unique interpretations of this theme and will be exhibited for sale at the final exhibition, which runs from July 14 to August 8, 2009, at KZNSA Gallery.

Each finalist will have the opportunity to work with well-known South African artists who will be their mentors for the creation phase. These mentors will offer guidance creatively and technically, as well as on other aspects such as the use of materials and pricing of the finished artworks.

Entry forms are available at most KwaZulu-Natal art galleries, or can be obtained by phoning 031 573 2154 or emailing nivea.art.award@beiersdorf.com

NIVEA has been synonymous with care for people all around the world for almost a century, representing reliability, understanding, humanity, love and harmony. These values form the essence of START THE NIVEA ART AWARD, an initiative designed to help identify, develop, uplift and inspire talented KwaZulu-Natal artists. In line with NIVEA’s philosophy to help bring out the best in individuals, START THE NIVEA ART AWARD was created by Beiersdorf. It is an investment which aims to assist artists with great potential to carve a career for themselves in the arts and, ultimately, to enhance South Africa’s art heritage in the process.