CRAFT AWARDS 2009

National craft competition celebrates South African art and heritage.

A sense of anticipation and excitement is growing among South African crafters who have entered a National Craft Competition organized by the Department of Arts and Culture. The competition has been specially commissioned by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan, to honour crafters who work in textile, ceramic and wood genres.

In total 475 entries were received by the end of February this year. Of these 134 were selected to go through to the provincial judging from where national winners will be chosen.

The winners of the Craft Awards 2009 will be announced at an Awards Ceremony and Exhibition in Pretoria at the Reserve Bank Conference Centre on April 17, 2009. All selected craft works will be exhibited until April 24.

The aim of this competition is to encourage creativity and innovative designs among South African crafters and provide them the opportunity to showcase their work to the market. These exciting and innovative works celebrate South Africa’s unique craft, heritage and cultural expression. The Department of Arts and Culture hopes that exhibition will provide the participants valuable exposure to large retailers and the general market and thus help make the cultural sector more vibrant and successful.

There are three categories that are promoted in this competition - Textile/Fabric, Ceramic/Pottery and Woodwork. Each category will be judged on the standard of quality and workmanship, innovation and the use of environmentally friendly materials. The pieces entered into the competition must reflect South African culture, environment and social structure.

In the Textile/Fabric category judges will look for innovative designs as well as the use of traditional materials such as beads, pins, embroidery, felt, quilting, patchwork and collage. The size of the artwork must be no larger than 1.5m in length and 1.5m in width.

In the Ceramic/Pottery category new designs, new technology and skills used to create fired clay, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain and paper clay are key factors in the judging process. The maximum size allowed for pieces entered is 150cm.

In the Woodwork category judges will look for exciting and creative designs of woodcarvings, sculptures, woodturning and handmade furniture. Pieces entered into the competition can be no larger than one metre in width and two metres in height.

Winners from each of the nine Provinces will receive R10,000 while second and third prize winners for each Province will receive R5,000 and R2,500 respectively. In addition, a catalogue featuring all the finalists will be distributed to all major art galleries and corporates across the country to provide further exposure of the artists.

More information from Ms Busiswa Mlandu, Practice Group Head, HMC Seswa Corporate Communications on 011 704 6618 or email: busiswa@hmcseswa.co.za