MTN Foundation in South Africa has named four collaborative finalists for this year’s the New Contemporary Award.
The award aims to recognise up-and-coming artists who have few opportunities to be recognized in the marketplace. The award process picks out artists who are tipped to be the next big thing.
Robert Madzonga, chief corporate services officer MTN SA, said, “Collectively, the curatorship, artworks and adjudication of these role-players has given depth to the MTN New Contemporaries Award programme. Each competition has drawn on the legacy of the ones that went before and this year we anticipate no less.”
The organisers said that getting the finalists was something not easy to achieve: “As one of the Award’s mandates is to reflect on the traits and trends in the current art scene, the project starts with the nomination of a young curator who is a specialist in contemporary South African art.”
The finalists will have their work exhibited at the Iziko B-Block at the Castle of Good Hope, which is managed by Iziko Museums of South Africa that operates 11 museums across the country.
MTN Foundation has been holding the competition every other year since 2001 and has managed to expose great talent in the arts.
The foundation has identified arts and culture as one way to connect with the community and help those who are unfortunate.
“Through our art programmes, we provide schools with art materials and literature about art. As the curators of the MTN Art Collection, we also have a travelling exhibition called Messages and Meaning. We take this exhibition—made up of over 1 400 quality African and South African pieces—to rural communities to share South Africa’s rich cultural heritage with as many people as possible,” the company said.
