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‘There’ll be a new offering in 2024’ – Zoë Modiga after winning Standard Bank Young Artist Award
The 2023 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners were announced last week. Zoë Modiga was part of the six artists awarded.
Zoë Modiga is one of the The 2023 Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) Award winners of 2023. Picture: Kgabo Legora
After winning the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2023 as a recipient of the Music award, Zoë Modiga has promised that 2024 will be the year she releases a follow-up to her critically acclaimed album, Inganekwane.
“They’ll be a new offering in 2024, we’ve been working over three years on it and it is a labour of love and a world we are excited to share,” Modiga told The Citizen.
Inganekwane era
Released in 2020, Inganekwane is Modiga’s sophomore album preceded by adjectives such as ‘moving’ ‘divine’ and ‘healing’.
Inganekwane, an Nguni word for fairy-tale, was aptly released at a time when black youth was enamoured with being woke and were (still are) having conversations about what it means to be black in this world.
An album with such an impact can easily bring pressure on an artist to try follow up a project that was widely appreciated. Modiga embraces this challenge and doesn’t see it as pressure.
“I feel no pressure, just another day of heeding the call like I’ve done so before and sharing honest expressions that reflect a story meaningful to me and hopefully resonant with many,” said the muso.
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Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA)
The 2023 Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) Award winners were announced last week and Modiga was one of the recipients.
The awards were given to Lorin Sookool (dance), Darren English (jazz), Angel Ho (performance art), Kgomotso ‘MoMo’ Matsunyane (theatre), Stephané Conradie (visual art) with Modiga joining the pantheon with an accolade in music.
“It’s a monumental award that represents a legacy of art practitioners, about two decades of impactful storytellers across art disciplines. To be a part of that is a feeling of being seen and incredibly affirming,” Modiga says.
The winners receive a cash incentive, as well as a commission to premier new works on the Main Programme of the 50th National Arts Festival, taking place in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) from 20 June to 30 June 2024.
“The award is collaboration with Standard Bank and the National Arts Festival in Makhanda and I’m excited to explore and share with audiences,” said Modiga.
The award can be seen as the closure to the Inganekwane chapter, which has seen Modiga perform on various stages across the globe and receiving accolades. “This award affirms the Inganekwane journey but certainly doesn’t close it off. What I mean by this is that, in many ways I hope that era is an eternal one that walks with us even with the new music in the way being shared.”
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