(Caroline
Smart is presented with her award by Bonga Mpanza, Station Manager at
Ukhozi FM)
With its prestigious Living Legends Awards,
now in their fifth year, the eThekwini Municipality last month celebrated those
who have made a major contribution to the city in their various fields.
“The fact that what began as an idea in the
unassuming minds of a few people has grown in such leaps and bounds in a space
of five years is an extraordinary stride for our beautiful City,” said
Councillor James Nxumalo, the Mayor of eThekwini. “It is this power of an idea
which is so aptly personified by the people whose works, contributions and
sacrifices the eThekwini Living Legends Awards recognise and celebrate.”
This year’s impressive ceremony saw the
2012 recipients of the Living Legends Awards enter the splendidly-decorated ICC
carrying a lantern on one side and holding the hand of a five-year old child on
the other. The children were chosen specifically for their age to celebrate the
fifth anniversary of the awards.
The procession moved towards the stage and,
once each Living Legend awardee reached the stage, they symbolically handed
their lantern to their accompanying child. In an extremely moving process, the
child then walked up onto the stage, as if carrying forward the awardee’s
energies and skills into the future.
Among the awardees was theatre personality
and artSMart editor Caroline Smart who is well known in Durban’s theatre
circles for her tireless contribution towards the local arts industry. She is
an award-winning stage, television, radio and film actress and has been
involved in almost every facet of the performing arts from script writing,
drama direction for stage and radio, and as a voice-over artist and coach.
Smart is a recipient of the former Durban
Critics’ Circle Award for her professionalism in theatre and her work in
promoting the arts in Durban. In 2003,
the Durban Theatre Awards judges presented her with a Lifetime Achievement
Award in recognition of services rendered to the theatre industry. In the same
year she also received the prestigious Fool’s Award for Best Arts Journalist in
KZN.
In 2004, Smart reached a major highlight of
her career when she acted in the international movie Wah Wah directed by Richard E Grant in Swaziland, Currently, Smart
serves as a judge for the Mercury Durban Theatre Awards as well as KZN
DanceLink and also serves on the Board of the Stable Theatre.
She owns the online arts magazine,
artSMart, attracting 30,000 hits a week. She has helped guide and develop young
performers and visual artists who look to her for advice and support. Her years
of dedication to the industry have earned her the respect and trust of artists
and audiences alike. Whether teaching, directing or reviewing, she will
endeavour to keep the Durban arts scene centre stage for many years to come.
Other 2012 Living Legends in the arts were author
Lauretta Ngcobo, jazz musician Theo Bophela and visual artist Paul Sibisi.
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