The Barclays L’Atelier competition 2017 enters its 32nd year and is aimed at empowering young, up and coming contemporary visual artists.
The competition – hosted in conjunction with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (Sanava) – aims to nurture young talent between the ages of 21 and 35 and serves as a platform for emerging artists to make their mark on the African art scene.
Registration opens on 20 February and all artworks should be completed and submitted between 24 and 28 April.
The competition has been instrumental in launching many significant careers in the visual arts arena and will once again feature a string of highly coveted art residency prizes for the top two winners and top three merit award recipients, in addition to a significantly increased cash prize of R300 000.
“This is a project that would not have been possible without our partners and the artists who have entered. “Compared to previous years, these timelines give artists more time to complete the high-quality submissions the adjudicators are looking for,” said Absa art and museum curator, Paul Bayliss.
After entering the competition twice and finally taking the trophy on his third attempt, successful artist Stephen Rosin had great advice for entrants.
“The lesson [learnt from my experience] is not to give up and not to allow for despondency and disappointment of not coming anywhere,” he said. “As artists, we tend to think if you’re not number one you’re nothing – it’s quite stupid. And I’ve seen artists who thought they’d won, so everything is going to fall at their feet and it doesn’t. It didn’t work like that for me.”
The competition opened to artists in 10 African countries last year and maintains this footprint in 2017.
The competition hopes to attract Africa’s next great artists. Rules and regulations are available on the competition’s website.
Details: www.lateliercompetition.com
Read: Barclays celebrates African art
