Saturday, 6 March saw Alice Art Gallery in Ruimsig host the Mzansi Creative Identity Art Competition Gala event for the top ten artists.
The Mzansi Art Gallery is a Facebook gallery that hosted a countrywide art competition to provide artists with an opportunity to showcase and sell their art during the period of social isolation.
According to Mzansi Art Gallery Curator, Susan Allin, the final ten contestants have been selected by three prestigious judges, whose identities were only revealed on the day of the event.
The judges were the owner of Alice Art Gallery, Alice Pretorius, and world-renowned artist Tony de Freitas, while the third judge did not participate in the final judging.
The top three artists were announced during the course of the morning from 10am to 12 noon, after which the prizes were handed over.
The big winner on the day was André Austin, whose painting impressed the judges and saw him walk away with R1 000 cash, one night’s accommodation at Ramkiki Country Estate for a couple, R1 000 meal voucher, a hamper from Italian Art Shop to the value of R1 000, and a feature in The South African Artist Magazine.
Watch here:
Mariana de Jager’s painting came second while Hari Lualhati secured the third position to round off the list of winners.
All ten artists received a certificate of achievement, and their artworks will be on exhibition at Alice Art Gallery for two weeks.
Mzansi Art Gallery is administered by Susan and Sonwabe Mhletywa, and it was established in July 2020 with the purpose of bridging the obstacles brought by Covid-19.
The event sponsors were Alice Art Gallery, Craft-Up, Italian Art Shop, Ramkiki Country Estate, Vanilla Guesthouse, The South African Artist Magazine and Mzansi Art Gallery.