(Jazz music legend
Herbie Tsoaeli. Pic by Oscar Gutierrez)
Deadline: August 8
The panel of judges, who will adjudicate the 2014 Arts &
Culture Trust ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals, has been announced.
A group of well-known and respected professionals working
across a variety of contexts will convene to judge this year’s entries for the
ImpACT Awards. They are: theatre personality Caroline Smart, visual artist
David Koloane, arts education and heritage activist Nadia Virasamy, 2013
Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Prince Lamla, culture and craft mentor
Eugenie Drakes and jazz music legend Herbie Tsoaeli.
Public nominations for the ImpACT Awards for Young
Professionals, sponsored by the Distell Foundation, are currently open till August
8 in the categories: Visual Art, Theatre, Music & Singing and Design. These
awards are presented annually to honour young artists who have reached a
professional standing in their discipline, and are within the first five years
of their professional careers.
“Every year The Arts and Culture Trust honours four ImpACT
Awards to young professionals on their achievements in the first five years of
their careers. The judges look for impressive progress and excellence in both
the individual and the impact that they have made in their communities. ACT is
committed to supporting their development path and ultimate success” explains
Caroline Smart.
Smart, who is the convener of the panel and an ACT Trustee,
is a multi-award winning and well-known Durban theatre personality who has been
involved in the professional performing arts world for over 45 years. She wears
many "hats": trained actress, voice production coach (speech),
director and scriptwriter as well as television presenter/producer. She is an
experienced radio drama actress and director. Her website, artSMart, is
dedicated to promoting the arts in Durban and further afield in KZN. She is
also a judge for The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards and KZN DanceLink. She is
closely involved in the renovation and rejuvenation of Stable Theatre and also
serves on the DUT Drama Liaison Committee. She has mentored many organisations and
performing artists who are now successful personalities in their own right. She
is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, including the eThekwini
Living Legends Award for Arts & Culture.
David Koloane is a prominent visual artist whose career
spans over a period of over 35 years. From 1974 to 1977 Koloane attended art
classes at the Bill Ainslie Studios, which later became the Johannesburg Art
Foundation. In 1977, he was one of the founding members of the first black
gallery in South Africa, located in Johannesburg. He later studied museology at
the University of London from 1984 to 1985. Some of his highlights as a curator
include the Culture and Resistance Arts Festival in Botswana, the Fuba Art
Gallery in Johannesburg and the Zabalaza Festivals in London. Additionally,
David Koloane's works are part of many collections worldwide, including the
collections of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, The Contemporary African Art
Collection (CAAC) of Jean Pigozzi, the South African National Gallery in Cape
Town and the Botswana National Museum. He is also 0 recipient of an ACT
Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts.
Nadia Virasamy has a Masters Degree in Arts, Culture and
Heritage Management from Wits University and Bachelor’s degree in Social
Science with Honours from the University of Natal - Durban. She has lectured
and tutored at UKZN and University of Venda. Her career in arts management
includes being Artist/Events Manager at Ghetto Ruff, a well-known music label.
In 2005, Virasamy joined Moving into Dance Mophatong and currently serves the
position of Chief Executive Officer/Director of Education. She has also been
part of the sessional staff at the Wits School of Dramatic Arts and lectured in
Performing Arts Marketing and Organisational Management, and recently
co-authored three arts and culture textbooks for grades 7, 8 and 9 for
Cambridge University Press. She sits on the board of the Newtown Improvement
District, as well as that of Lesedi Music - an NGO that works with the
rehabilitation of prisoners through music.
After training at the Market Theatre Laboratory, Prince
Lamla attended a short course in text and interpretation at the Stockholm
Stadsteater, before returning to his home town of Qwaqwa, where he worked with
the late Ofentse Bodibe co-directing a number of plays, including Coal Yard
that went on to win the Market Theatre Laboratory’s Zwakala Festival in 2005,
premiering at the Market Theatre’s Laager and later had a run at PACOFS and the
National Arts Festival. Coal Yard was nominated at the 2006 Naledi Awards for
Best Cutting Edge Production. Lamla later became a member of the Market
Theatre’s Writers’ Forum under the guidance of Craig Higginson and participated
in a number of local and international theatre-making projects and also working
with organisations such as Sibikwa, Fresco Theatre Company, PANSA and the
Gauteng Organisation of Community Theatre. In 2012, Lamla directed Woza Albert! at the Market Theatre, that
went on to set a record at the Market Theatre for sold out houses, rave reviews
and having had the longest run ever at the Theatre. Woza Albert! ended its run at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.
Lamla was the 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre and recreated Asinamali at the National Arts Festival
to great acclaim, and continues to make his mark working in community theatre.
Eugenie Drakes has been involved in the Cultural Industries
for over 28 years working with performing arts, fine arts, music, fashion and
craft. Her experience includes founding the ‘piece’ brand and running it as a
successful business for 14 years. She is a Cheri Blair Foundation Mentor and a
Business and Arts Mentor and currently mentors a number of local crafters,
fashion designers, and artists. She is a Trustee and Board Member of Siyazisiza
Trust (food security and handcraft), the Gatwick Body Corporate and a Founding
Member of the Southern Guild Design Foundation. She is a graduate of the
Goldman Sachs-GIBS 10,000 Women Certificate Programme for Women Entrepreneurs
and is currently the Chairman of the Steering Committee forming the Alumni
Association for South Africa.
Herbie Tsoaeli was born and raised in Nyanga East Township
in Cape Town. He is one of South Africa’s most talented musicians and has been
winning musical hearts for over 20 years. Since he moved to Johannesburg in
1995, Herbie has played with Zim Ngqawana, Bheki Khoza, Winston Mankunku Ngozi
and Sibongile Khumalo. He is an improviser and lover of the free-jazz ethic and
delights in taking the audience to a creative space where they are totally
immersed in his music. Over the years, he has lent his distinctive sound to
over 20 albums in South Africa and has played alongside Hugh Masekela, Miriam
Makeba, Louis Moholo, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, Winston
Mankunku Ngozi, Feya Faku, Simphiwe Dana and Zim Ngqawana – to name but a few.
Winners of ImpACT Awards will be announced at the Awards
ceremony scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November 2014. The closing
date for nominations is August 8, 2014.
For more information and to submit an ImpACT Nomination, follow
the link: http://www.act.org.za/programmes/awards.html
The 2014 ImpACT Awards are supported by the Distell
Foundation and CLASSICfeel Magazine.
For more information about the Arts & Culture Trust
(ACT) visit www.act.org.za
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