PICTURES: Meet the 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners

JOBURG – Standard Bank toasts 35 years of sponsoring the Young Artists Awards with five new innovators for 2019.

November 16, 2018

Mpho Moloto 2 minutes read

Mandla Mlangeni, Gabrielle Goliath, Kitty Phetla, Megan-Geoffrey Prins, and Amy Jephta. Photo: Supplied

Since its inception almost four decades ago, the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards has been regarded as the ultimate accolade for young South African arts innovators. As the awards celebrate 35 years, the latest list of winners proves that the creative fire that fuelled their predecessors in the 1980s burns just as fiercely in the current generation of South African arts pioneers.

Gabrielle Goliath is a multidisciplinary artist who is known for sensitively negotiating complex social concerns in her work, particularly relating to gender-based and sexual violence. Photo: Supplied

“We value and appreciate the prestige that the award holds in the local and international art community and take our role as sponsors very seriously. It is a great honour for us to recognise and reward these artists for their talent, and to contribute to moving their careers forward. We continually strive to support South Africa’s creative economy by elevating their craft,” Pooe said

Kitty Phetla is the principal dancer and choreographer at Joburg Ballet. She has toured and performed extensively on stages across the globe. Photo: Supplied

The National Arts Festival announced the recipients of the 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) Awards as Mandla Mlangeni (Jazz), Kitty Phetla (Dance), Megan-Geoffrey Prins (Music), Amy Jephta (Theatre) and Gabrielle Goliath (Visual Art).

Each of these exceptional young artists is set to receive a cash incentive, as well as a commission to premiere a new work or exhibit on the main programme of the 2019 National Arts Festival, taking place in Makhanda in Grahamstown from 27 June to 7 July next year.

Mandla Mlangeni is a jazz trumpeter and composer who has become a popular fixture on local and international stages since being selected for the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band in 2006. Photo: Supplied

“There are so many young South Africans producing incredible, important work that every year the Festival’s artistic advisory committee has its work cut out when deliberating on who should win. Foremost in the committee members’ minds is how these creative upstarts have already seized the baton and taken the initiative to produce outstanding work – we are simply giving them an additional platform and the enhanced profile to reach even greater heights,” said National Arts Festival executive producer Ashraf Johaardien.

The five young stars join a long list of illustrious SBYA alumni who have attained amazing creative and professional heights over the years. Since 1981, the ranks of SBYA winners have included Sibongile Khumalo, William Kentridge, Mbongeni Ngema, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Johnny Clegg, Vincent Mantsoe, Gregory Maqoma, Janice Honeyman, Helen Sebidi, Lara Foot, Darrell Roodt, Robyn Orlin, Jerry Mofokeng, Andrew Buckland, Sam Nhlengethwa and Marthinus Basson.

Amy Jephta is a playwright who has also built a reputation as a filmmaker, activist and academic. A champion of theatre by and for women. Photo: Supplied

These luminaries, and many other SBYA alumni have gone on to forge successful and sustainable careers in the arts. They have created work that contributes meaningfully to important national topics, often challenging the status quo in the process. Fêted on the world’s stages and screens, in international galleries and concert halls, many are still actively working in – and enriching – South Africa’s creative economy. In fact, an SBYA alumnus from 2001, artist and theatre-maker Brett Bailey, currently chairs the National Arts Festival artistic committee who have the responsibility of selecting the SBYA winners.