MTN NEW CONTEMPORARIES WINNER

At a prestigious event held at the KZNSA Gallery, the overall winner of the MTN New Contemporaries Art Award 2010 was revealed as Kemang Wa Luhelere. Runners up were Donna Kukama, Stuart Bird and Mohau Modisakeng.

Held every two years since 2001, this much celebrated art competition identifies four emerging South African artists as the new stars of the South African art world, and elects a winner among them.

The MTN New Contemporaries Award is distinctly different from conventional art competitions in South Africa as it is entirely unsolicited by the artists it honours. The competition also discards old stereotypes about art and foregrounds the country’s artists as a source of new ideas and media.

Says Nontobeko Ntombela, the 2010 New Contemporaries Award guest curator: “This year’s finalists were an exciting line-up. Their work consisted of diverse exhibition that mixes traditional and new media within a contemporary context, and that might variously be described as critical, socially-engaged or ironic”.

One of the MTN SA Foundation’s most renowned projects, the MTN New Contemporaries Award is a competition designed to promote talented, cutting-edge artists who have not yet received critical acclaim but who are positioned to be the next leaders in the art field.

Eunice Maluleke; Head of MTN SA Foundation says: “MTN SA New Contemporaries Award affirms our responsibility to encourage creative thinking outside the business arena and allows the opportunity for young South Africans to be heard. These awards are also aimed at promoting young artists who have not yet had the opportunity for appropriate exposure. The concept of the MTN New Contemporaries Award contributes to the development of South Africa’s rich cultural and artistic practice. Held every two years, this year is different in that it is the fifth year running meaning that we have had ten years invested in the emerging contemporary art field.”