(Mandla
Mlangeni (jazz), Megan-Geoffrey Prins (music), Kitty Phetla (dance), Amy Jephta
(theatre) and Gabrielle Goliath (visual art) are the recipients of the 2019
Standard Young Artist awards)
Since its inception almost four decades
ago, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award has come to be regarded as the
ultimate accolade for young South African arts innovators on the cusp of
greatness – and the latest list of winners proves that the creative fire that
fuelled their predecessors in the 1980s burns just as fiercely in the current
generation of South African arts pioneers.
The National Arts Festival has announced
the recipients of the 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) Awards. They are
Mandla Mlangeni (Jazz), Kitty Phetla (Dance), Megan-Geoffrey Prins (Music), Amy
Jephta (Theatre) and Gabrielle Goliath (Visual Art).
This year marks 35 years of Standard Bank
as the sponsor of these prestigious national awards and each of these
exceptional young artists will receive a cash incentive, as well as a
commission to premiere a new work or exhibit on the Main Programme of the 2019
National Arts Festival, taking place in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) from June
27 to July 7, 2019. MESH and Standard Bank have also awarded a membership to
each of the winners.
The five young artists join a long list of
illustrious SBYA alumni who have attained great creative and professional
heights over the years. Since 1981, SBYA winners have included Sibongile
Khumalo, William Kentridge, Mbongeni Ngema, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Johnny Clegg, Vincent
Mantsoe, Gregory Maqoma, Janice Honeyman, Helen Sebidi, Lara Foot, Darrell
Roodt, Robyn Orlin, Jerry Mofokeng, Andrew Buckland, Sam Nhlengethwa and
Marthinus Basson.
SBYA alumni often go on to forge successful
and sustainable careers in the arts. They have created work that contributes
meaningfully to important national topics, often challenging the status quo in
the process. Fêted on the world’s stages and screens, in international
galleries and concert halls, many are still actively working in – and enriching
– South Africa’s creative economy. In fact, Brett Bailey, an SBYA alumnus from
2001, currently chairs the National Arts Festival artistic committee, which has
the responsibility of selecting the SBYA winners.
About the 2019 SBYA winners
AMY JEPHTA is a playwright who has also
built a reputation as a filmmaker, activist and academic. A champion of theatre
by and for women, she has been a driving force in local and global initiatives
promoting opportunities for female playwrights. Aside from her theatre work,
she wrote the script for the film Ellen –
The Ellen Pakkies Story and is editing a collection of plays by African
women.
KITTY PHETLA is the senior soloist and choreographer
at Joburg Ballet. She has toured and performed extensively on stages across the
globe. A career highlight was dancing The Dying Swan solo for Nelson Mandela
and the Dutch royal family, but one of her most noteworthy recent performances
was her Queen Modjadji-inspired Rain Dance for Cape Town, in situ at the
then-parched Theewaterskloof Dam.
MANDLA MLANGENI is a jazz trumpeter and
composer who has become a popular fixture on local and international stages
since being selected for the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band in 2006. A
gifted bandleader, Mlangeni has carved out a name for himself with various
bands and ensembles, including the Amandla Freedom Ensemble, with which he has
released two albums.
GABRIELLE GOLIATH is a multidisciplinary
artist who is known for sensitively negotiating complex social concerns in her
work, particularly relating to gender-based and sexual violence. Among this PhD
candidate’s long-term performance projects is her Elegy series, where each iteration marks the absence of a woman or
LGBTQI+ individual who has been raped and killed in South Africa.
MEGAN-GEOFFREY PRINS is a pianist whose
prodigious talent was evident early on – he had performed with all South
Africa’s major orchestras by the age of 14. Today, while studying for his
doctorate in music in Cleveland in the US, he traverses the world as a solo
performer and chamber musician, often returning home for concerts, teaching
engagements and community outreach initiatives.
Ashraf Johaardien, the Executive Producer
of the National Arts Festival, says: “There are so many young South Africans
producing incredible, important work that every year the Festival’s artistic
advisory committee has its work cut out when deliberating on who should win.
Foremost in the committee members’ minds is how these creative upstarts have
already seized the baton and taken the initiative to produce outstanding work –
we are simply giving them an additional platform and an enhanced profile to
reach even greater heights.
Johaardien adds: “For almost 40 years, the
SBYA recipients have produced work that captures the zeitgeist of our times,
sometimes at the risk of incurring the ire of political or corporate power
elites. They upset apple carts. They are bold and unapologetic in their
creativity as they train their gaze on making sense of the here and now. They
are the artistic conscience of our times, and what they reflect and refract
through their lenses has the power to ignite conversations and shift
perceptions, to provoke and to entertain. As we celebrate 45 years of NAF next
year in the newly-renamed Makhanda, we look forward to the fresh and bold
insights that the 2019 crop of SBYA winners will bring.”
The 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist Awards
marks 35 years of Standard Bank’s sponsorship and of its partnership with the
National Arts Festival, representing a winning team that shares a strong
commitment to enriching South Africa’s arts landscape by giving a platform to
successive generations of diverse, exciting and progressive creative voices.
Desiree Pooe, Head of Group Sponsorships at
Standard Bank, says: “Over the 35 years of Standard Bank’s sponsorship, the
Standard Bank Young Artist Awards have become regarded as an illustrious
accolade that takes pride of place on any artist’s CV. We value and appreciate
the prestige that the award holds in the local and international art community
and take our role as sponsors very seriously. It is a great honour for us to
recognise and reward these artists for their talent, and to contribute to moving
their careers forward. We continually strive to support South Africa’s creative
economy by elevating their craft.”
Previous winners
1981 Richard E Grant, John Theodore, Jules
van de Vijver
1982 Janice Honeyman, Neil Rodger, Lindy
Raizenberg
1983 Paul Slabolepszy, Malcolm Payne, David
Kosviner
1984 Peter Schütz, Ken Leach; Standard Bank
– 1820 Foundation 10th Anniversary Special Award: Lamar Crowson
1985 Marion Arnold, Maishe Maponya, Sidwill
Hartman
1986 Andrew Buckland, Gavin Younge
1987 William Kentridge, Hans Roosenschoon
1988 Margaret Vorster, Mbongeni Ngema
1989 Johnny Clegg, Marthinus Basson, Helen
Sebidi, Gary Gordon; 1820 Foundation Special Award: Pieter-Dirk Uys
1990 Robyn Orlin, Fée Halsted-Berning,
Bonnie Ntshalintshali
1991 Peter Ngwenya, Andries Botha, Darrell
Roodt
1992 Deon Opperman, Tommy Motswai, Raphael
Vilakazi, Kevin Harris
1993 Christopher Kindo, Sibongile Khumalo,
Pippa Skotnes
1994 Jerry Mofokeng, Sam Nhlengethwa,
Michael Williams
1995 Jane Alexander, Boyzie Cekwana, John
Ledwaba, Abel Motsoadi
1996 Lara Foot Newton, Trevor Makhoba,
Vincent Mantsoe, Victor Masondo
1997 Lien Botha, Geoffrey Hyland, Sibongile
Mngoma; Standard Bank Special Award for vision, commitment and contribution:
Alfred Hinkel
1998 David Mudanalo Matamela, Debbie
Rakusin, Bongani Ndodana, Nhlanhla Xaba, Aubrey Sekhabi
1999 No awards made.
2000 Zenzi Mbuli, Gloria Bosman, Alan
Alborough
2001 Tracey Human, Brett Bailey, Fikile
Mvinjelwa, Walter Oltmann
2002 Gregory Vuyani Moqoma, Sello Maake Ka
Ncube, Prince Kupi, Brett Murray
2003 Moya Michael, Yael Faber, Dumisani
Phakathi, Angela Gilbert, Berni Searle
2004 Kathryn Smith, Mncedisi Shabangu,
Portia Lebohang Mashigo, Tutu Puoane, Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (posthumously)
2005 Wim Botha, PJ Sabbagha, Andile Yenana,
Mpumelelo Grootboom
2006 Concord Nkabinde, Churchill Madikida,
Hlengiwe Lushaba, Sylvaine Strike
2007 Acty Tang, Bronwen Forbay, Shannon
Mowday, Pieter Hugo, Akin Omotoso
2008 Dada Masilo, Nontsikelelo ‘Lolo’
Veleko, Jaco Bouwer, Mark Fransman, Zanne Stapelberg
2009 Thabo Rapoo, Kesivan Naidoo, Nicholas
Hlobo, Jacques Imbrailo, Ntshieng Mokgoro
2010 Mlu Zondi, Melanie Scholtz, Michael
MacGarry, Samson Diamond, Janni Younge, Claire Angelique
2011 Neil Coppen, Ben Schoeman, Nandipha
Mntambo, Mamela Nyamza, Bokani Dyer
2012 Kelebogile (Pearl) Boikanyo, Mikhael
Subotzky, Princess Zinzi Mhlongo, Bailey Snyman, Afrika Mkhize
2013 Fana Tshabalala, Runette Botha, Mary
Sibande, Prince Lamla, Shane Cooper, Anthea Moys
2014 Jahmil XT Qubeka, Nicola Elliott, Kyle
Shepherd, Hasan & Husain Essop, Njabulo Madlala, Donna Kukama, Greg Homann
2015 Nduduzo Makhathini, Christiaan
Olwagen, Luyanda Sidiya, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Musa Ngqungwana, Athi Patra Ruga
2016 Avigail Bushakevitz, Jade Bowers,
Mohau Modisakeng, Siya Makuzeni, Themba Mbuli
2017 Abel Salaocoe, Benjamin Jephta, Beth
Diane Armstrong, Dineo Bopape, Monageng “Vice” Motshabi, Thandazile Radebe
2018 Chuma Sopotela, Guy Buttery, Igshaan
Adams, Jemma Kahn, Musa Hlatshwayo, Thandi Ntuli
(To
link direct to the NAF site click on the large banner that runs across the top
of this blog or visit https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/)
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