2021 Innibos National Craft Awards’ winners announced
This is second year that a virtual exhibition and prize-giving was hosted by the Innibos National Craft Awards, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The fifth annual Innibos National Craft Awards, supported by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), announced this year’s winners on Heritage Day, September 24, in celebration of the excellence of skill across all cultures in South Africa.
This year, the awards – which are hosted under the auspices of the Standard Bank Innibos National Arts Festival – received just under 2 000 entries (up from 1 300 last year), of which 63 were shortlisted for judging by a panel of independent and expert adjudicators. The judges agree that the calibre of work this year is the best yet.
“While it would have been wonderful to have so many talented crafters gathered in one spot, we are delighted that despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, we have yet again been able to showcase their extraordinary talent,” says John-Anthony Boerma from ArtAid Africa, the organiser of the awards.
“We have curated a stunning online exhibition of the 63 best entries, which include functional and decorative pieces. The works exhibited capture the diversity of South Africa and her people,” adds Jan Bhuda from ArtAid Africa.
A highlight of this year’s awards was the presentation of the Lifetime Achiever Award for Excellence in Craft that was bestowed on the globally renowned Ndebele painter, Dr Esther Mahlangu, who is considered a national treasure.
“The Lifetime Achiever Award for Excellence in Craft commemorates Dr Mahlangu’s immense contribution to art, culture and entrepreneurship in South Africa, and the DSAC and the Innibos National Craft Awards are honoured to bestow this award on her,” says Joseph Mathe, the Deputy Director: Craft Development at the National Department of Arts and Culture.
“We are awed by the heights to which you have taken traditional Ndebele art and the international recognition you have achieved. Your success has spurred on generations of crafters to reimagine their own possibilities and for that, we salute you,” he adds.
As a token of appreciation for everything Dr Mahlangu has done to elevate the craft industry in South Africa, she was honoured with a R20 000 cash award.
“From 2022, the craft sector will be requested to nominate subsequent recipients of the Lifetime Achiever Award,” says Bhuda.
2021 winners
Four categories of the awards were aimed specifically at those people who aim to commercialise their work. One winner was identified in each category, and each one walked away with R20 000. The categories and winners are:
Corporate gifts (items that can be branded for clients)
Thulani Tshabalala won this category with his metal sheet bookends.
Beadwork (traditional or innovative)
Woza Moyo took the prize with Green Goddess, made by over 70 crafters from handmade individual flowers.
Recycled materials (primarily made from recycled/found materials)
This category was won by John Bauer, with his recycled tiles.
Bauer’s matchbox-sized tiles have all been made to upcycle old artifacts into beautiful pieces of art. He uses coins, doilies, wood-carved boxes and textures found in nature; and the skeletons/fossils of dead animals that he finds, to preserve them for future generations to behold.
This large artwork, ‘Time Throughout The Ages’, has history and culture staring the viewer in the face, in a beautiful harmony of colour and texture. All of his work uses a recycling of clay offcuts, textures found all over the city or natural landscapes, unwanted chemicals and colours that people send to him as they no longer have use for them, and yellow paper, which is used in his process, that he finds at the dump.
Souvenirs (items depicting a South African tourist attraction that can be mass-produced)
This category was won by Thabo Mbonani, with his Ndebele designed tray.
Once-off categories
In addition, a winner and three runners-up were identified in the once-off category (one-of-a-kind items), winning R50 000, R20 000 and R15 000, respectively. These winners are:
Winner: R50 000
Morgan Mahape took first place with his self-portrait ‘curtain’ titled Lebua.
“The portrait was inspired by nature, where vegetation is a symbol of life and development, and the connection of human beings and nature, as a host, which we can’t exist without. The artwork is a representation of owning a space in modern times. It challenges the ideas of surviving in the world without my own space,” says Mahape.
Second Place: R20 000
Gari Louridas took second place with her stained porcelain knitted vessels, with gold lustre.
“The Innibos National Craft Awards extends our sincere appreciation to Trans African Concessions, the concessionaire of the N4 Toll Route which runs between Tshwane and Maputo, for again coming onboard to support South Africa’s crafters and sponsoring the second place prize for the third consecutive year,” says Boerma.
Joint Third Place: R15 000
Joint Third Place is shared by Mari Claase, with her ‘Fynbos Garden’; and Sibusiso Mlangeni, with his recycled bullet cartridges.
“I tried to portray my immediate surroundings at the foothills of the beautiful Brandwag mountains in the Boland. Different species of proteas and other flowers; sunbirds; the old oak tree, with spiderwebs and butterflies; and a ladybird and worm nibbling on juicy leaves all form part of a delicate balance of an undisturbed area in nature where I live,” says Mari.
Marie and Sibusiso will share the R15 000 prize money.
