The ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards and ImpACT Award winners 2015. Pic: John Hogg)
The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) announced the 2015
winners of the ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards and ImpACT Awards for young
professionals at The Maslow Hotel in Johannesburg on November 2, 2015.
This year’s celebration comes after 2014’s double
celebration of ACT’s 20 years of existence and 17 years of the awards being
hosted in recognition of young artists who have reached a professional standing
in their discipline, and are within the first five years of their professional
careers, as well as Lifetime Achievement Award winners who have contributed
significantly to the enrichment of the arts and culture environment in South
Africa.
ACT prides itself in celebrating and acknowledging
excellence and hopes that hosting the annual ceremony will motivate creatives
to aspire to do more and strive to reach a high level of brilliance in their
respective fields.
Shedding light on what reaching the 18th year milestone
means to the organisation, ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs says: “ACT is proud of the
legacy of the awards perpetuated by the consistent efforts of praiseworthy
artistic output of previous winners. Since the inception of the event in 1998,
more than 140 individuals and organisations have been acknowledged and honoured
for their contributions to arts and culture in South Africa and we can only
hope to do more in the coming years.”
Hosted by Sun International’s The Maslow Hotel the second
year in a row, the prestigious ceremony was sponsored by long-time supporters
SAMRO, DALRO, Media24 Books, Nedbank Arts Affinity, Distell Foundation,
Creative Feel Magazine and Business and Arts South Africa. Japan Tobacco
International (JTI) came on board this year as sponsor of the inaugural
Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance.
For the past five years, the ImpACT Awards have acknowledged
young professionals in the arts who have promising careers ahead of them and
made a fine imprint in their respective industries on home soil. For the first
time this year ACT is proud to recognise a new award in this segment by
awarding an individual who they believe has made remarkable moves in the dance
fraternity.
The ImpACT Awards finalists were nominated by the public,
and adjudicated by a chosen panel of expert judges with the following winners
receiving an award: POPArt for Theatre, Laurie Wiid van Heerden for Design,
Benon Lutaaya for Visual Art, Lindiwe Maxolo for Music & Singing,
Letlhogonolo Nche for Dance and Jessica Denyschen was awarded a Special
Honorary Award for her contribution in South Africa’s dance industry.
The judging panel for the 2015 ImpACT Awards was convened by
ACT Trustee Jayesperi Moopen with judges: musician Sibongile Khumalo, actress
Warona Seane, arts and culture development expert David Thatanelo April and
Fine Arts lecturer David Andrew.
Moopen commented the success of yet another year by lauding
this year’s finalists in saying, “Congratulations to all the nominees and the
recipients of the ACT Impact Awards which have come to appropriately reflect
artistic achievement of young and talented emerging artists who have displayed
imagination, boldness and risk taking to produce work of a high quality and
setting standards of excellence.”
ACT also honours those who have had a lifelong commitment to
the arts and six deserving Lifetime Achievement Awards luminaries have been
awarded this year. The recipients are nominated by the ACT Board of Trustees
and selected by current and previous ACT Trustees. Categories include: Theatre,
Music, Visual Art, Literature, Arts Advocacy and newly added Dance.
This year ACT honoured Thembi Mtshali-Jones for Theatre,
Caiphus Semenya for Music, Omar Badsha for Visual Art, Don Mattera for
Literature, Johnny Mekoa for Arts Advocacy and Alfred Hinkel for Dance.
For more information about the Arts & Culture Trust
(ACT) visit www.act.org.za
Posts
