A total of over 368 entries were submitted for this year’s edition of the metro’s annual national Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards.
Sizwe Khoza’s artwork stood out and he took home the coveted prize of R100 000, a trophy and a certificate.
The annual national Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards is a contemporary fine art competition catering for artists of all ages, producing artworks using various mediums.
The victorious 25-year-old Sizwe from KwaThema could not contain his excitement at the Coen Scholtz Recreational Centre recently during the awards ceremony when he heard his name called as the winner of the first prize in the competition.
Sizwe’s art piece titled “Hold your head high as you can” depicts the challenges of a young man who has to assume a position of being an adult at an early age due to a difficult situation in his household.
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Sizwe uses lino/monotype and etching print as a medium to tell his story.
“I was going through a lot in my life when I started working on this art piece.
“I believed that this work was different, even the effort I invested in it was multiplied because I believed in it and I hoped that even if I couldn’t win the actual prize with it, it should at least bring hope to someone who would read the story that inspired the painting,” said Sizwe.
The prize money for the competition totaled R300 000 and other prize winners were as follows:
• The Ekurhuleni Prize went to Charles Mamerobela from Alberton, for a work titled “Power Struggle”. The prize was R65 000.
• The Lizamore and Associates Solo Exhibition and Mentorship Prize, which is a prize given in association with Lizamore and Associates Gallery was awarded to Oliver Mayhew. The prize includes a six-month mentorship programme, which will result in the selected artist having a solo show at the gallery.
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