The panel of judges, who will be adjudicating the 2014 Arts & Culture Trust ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals, has been announced.
A group of well-known and respected professionals working across a variety of contexts will convene to judge this year’s entries for the ImpACT Awards. They are: theatre personality Caroline Smart, visual artist David Koloane, arts education and heritage activist Nadia Virasamy, 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Prince Lamla, culture and craft mentor Eugenie Drakes and jazz music legend Herbie Tsoaeli.
Public nominations for the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals, sponsored by the Distell Foundation, are currently open till the 8th of August in the following four categories: Visual Art, Theatre, Music & Singing and Design. These awards are presented annually to honour young artists who have reached a professional standing in their discipline, and are within the first five years of their professional careers.
“Every year The Arts and Culture Trust honours four ImpACT Awards to young professionals on their achievements in the first five years of their careers. The judges look for impressive progress and excellence in both the individual and the impact that they have made in their communities. ACT is committed to supporting their development path and ultimate success” explains Caroline Smart.
Smart, who is the convener of the panel and an ACT Trustee, is a multi-award winning and well-known Durban theatre personality who has been involved in the professional performing arts world for over 45 years. She wears many “hats”: trained actress, voice production coach (speech), director and scriptwriter as well as television presenter/producer. She is an experienced radio drama actress and director. Her website, artSMart, is dedicated to promoting the arts in Durban and further afield in KZN. She is also a judge for The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards and KZN DanceLink. She is closely involved in the renovation and rejuvenation of Stable Theatre and also serves on the DUT Drama Liaison Committee. She has mentored many organisations and performing artists who are now successful personalities in their own right. She is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, including the eThekwini Living Legends Award for Arts & Culture.
David Koloane is a prominent visual artist whose career spans over a period of over 35 years. From 1974 to 1977 Koloane attended art classes at the Bill Ainslie Studios, which later became the Johannesburg Art Foundation. In 1977, he was one of the founding members of the first black gallery in South Africa, located in Johannesburg. He later studied museology at the University of London from 1984 to 1985. Some of his highlights as a curator include the Culture and Resistance Arts Festival in Botswana, the Fuba Art Gallery in Johannesburg and the Zabalaza Festivals in London. Additionally, David Koloane’s works are part of many collections worldwide, including the collections of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, The Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) of Jean Pigozzi, the South African National Gallery in Cape Town and the Botswana National Museum. He is also an ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts recipient.
Nadia Virasamy has a Masters Degree in Arts, Culture and Heritage Management from Wits University and Bachelor’s degree in Social Science with Honours from the University of Natal – Durban. She has lectured and tutored at UKZN and University of Venda. Her career in arts management includes being Artist/Events Manager at Ghetto Ruff, a well-known music label. In 2005, Virasamy joined Moving into Dance Mophatong and currently serves the position of Chief Executive Officer/Director of Education. She has also been part of the sessional staff at the Wits School of Dramatic Arts and lectured in Performing Arts Marketing and Organisational Management, and recently co-authored three arts and culture textbooks for grades 7, 8 and 9 for Cambridge University Press. She sits on the board of the Newtown Improvement District, as well as that of Lesedi Music – an NGO that works with the rehabilitation of prisoners through music.
After training at the Market Theatre Laboratory, Prince Lamla attended a short course in text and interpretation at the Stockholm Stadsteater, before returning to his home town of Qwaqwa, where he worked with the late Ofentse Bodibe co-directing a number of plays, including Coal Yard that went on to win the Market Theatre Laboratory’s Zwakala Festival in 2005, premiering at the Market Theatre’s Laager and later had a run at PACOFS and the National Arts Festival. Coal Yard was nominated at the 2006 Naledi Awards for Best Cutting Edge Production. Lamla later became a member of the Market Theatre’s Writers’ Forum under the guidance of Craig Higginson and participated in a number of local and international theatre making projects and also working with organisations such as Sibikwa, Fresco Theatre Company, PANSA and the Gauteng Organisation of Community Theatre. In 2012, Lamla directed Woza Albert! at the Market Theatre, that went on to set a record at the Market Theatre for sold out houses, rave reviews and having had the longest run ever at the Theatre. Woza Albert! ended its run at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Lamla was the 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre and recreated Asinamali at the National Arts Festival to great acclaim, and continues to make his mark working in community theatre.
Eugenie Drakes has been involved in the Cultural Industries for over 28 years working with Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Music, Fashion and Craft. Her experience includes founding the ‘piece’ brand and running it as a successful business for 14 years. She is a Cheri Blair Foundation Mentor and a Business and Arts Mentor and currently mentors a number of local Crafters, Fashion Designers, and Artists. She is a Trustee and Board Member of Siyazisiza Trust (food security and handcraft), the Gatwick Body Corporate and a Founding Member of the Southern Guild Design Foundation. She is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs-GIBS 10 000 Women Certificate Programme for Women Entrepreneurs and is currently the Chairman of the Steering Committee forming the Alumni Association for South Africa.
Herbie Tsoaeli was born and raised in Nyanga East Township in Cape Town. He is one of South Africa’s most talented musicians and has been winning musical hearts for over twenty years. Since he moved to Johannesburg in 1995, Herbie has played with Zim Nqgawana, Bheki Khoza, Winston Mankunku Ngozi and Sibongile Khumalo. He is an improviser and lover of the free-jazz ethic and delights in taking the audience to a creative space where they are totally immersed in his music. Over the years, he has lent his distinctive sound to over 20 albums in South Africa and has played alongside Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Louis Moholo, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Feya Faku, Simphiwe Dana and Zim Ngqawana – to name but a few.
Winners of ImpACT Awards will be announced at the Awards ceremony scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November 2014. The closing date for nominations is 8 August 2014.
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