ACT AWARDS

Extra week for ACT Awards nominations

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) Awards are held annually in recognition and celebration of excellence in South African arts, culture and creativity. Based on the nominations submitted by the public thus far, the organisers of the ACT Awards have decided to open out the criteria for nominations. Of the seven new ACT Excellence Awards sponsored by Distell in the disciplines of Craft, Dance, Design, Fashion, Heritage, Literature and Opera; three categories have been opened to organisations.

These are Heritage – a heritage organisation or agency for excellence in the protection and preservation of tangible or intangible aspects of South African cultural heritage; Literature – a South African publisher for excellence in publishing South African fiction (novels or short story collections, and Opera – an opera group or company for excellence in production values and quality performances.

The closing date for these submissions is October 20. Nominations should be e-mailed as a Word document to awards@act.org.za and must include the name, contact details and a biography of the nominee as well as a one-page motivation. Nominations should describe the positive impact of the nominee’s contribution, and provide evidence of the consistent excellence of the nominee’s work between September 1 2008 and August 31, 2009. Photographs or annexures should not be submitted at this stage.

“We have such a wealth of talent in our country and some of them often go unnoticed and unrecognised – we are therefore proud to give support in recognising excellence in the creative arts industry in South Africa,“ says Irma Albers of Distell.

Winners of the ACT Excellence Awards, sponsored by Distell, will be selected by the panel of judges and will be announced at a luncheon in Johannesburg during November 2009. Awards will only be presented if a satisfactory number of quality nominations are received in the various categories and the adjudication panel reserves the right to carry over such awards to next year.

The ACT Awards 2009 is sponsored by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO); the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO); the Vodacom Foundation and Distell; supported by CLASSICFEEL Magazine, Fine Music Radio 101.3 FM and Artslink.co.za.

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is South Africa's premier, independent arts and culture funding and development agency. For more information go to www.act.org.za