South Africa discovers new creative voice to join global race to become Absolut’s next artistic collaborator

In a race to find the next creative voice, Absolut in South Africa has chosen its winning artist to enter the next stage of the Absolut Creative Competition. Anda Mncayi has been selected with his art piece titled Absolut Creative Expression that depicts one of the brand’s beliefs that no matter where we are from, we’re all human.

Mncayi, a self-taught illustrator and visionary art enthusiast who studied Graphic Designing at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, was selected from 7,500 artistic entries, submitted by 19 countries and now stands a chance to be selected as the global winner of the competition.

“It is a great honour to have taken part in the Absolut Creative Competition alongside so many talented and skilled artists. I am super stoked to make it through to the next round and to have the opportunity to showcase my work on a big platform such as this. Absolut Creative Expression is inspired by our diverse ways of creatively expressing ourselves. It celebrates our infinite potential to imagine and create,” said Absolut Creative Competition winner, Mncayi.

The winner will join the list of bold and iconic artists that the brand previously has collaborated with, such as Keith Haring, Romero Britto, Arman Armand and Maurizio Cattelan.

Carefully selected by a judging panel consisting of, Sarah Mansfield, Marketing Manager: White Spirits, Pernod Ricard, Chief Creative Officer of VML,  Ryan McManus, Illustrator Lauren Mitchell and Mickalane Thomas, 2018 New York Academy of Art Honorary Doctorate recipient, the winning artist for South Africa has poured their heart and soul into creating a design showcasing their vision of a better tomorrow. By expressing their own inner passions, each winner has used their artwork to carry a message of a more open, equal and inclusive world.

 “We are so inspired and impressed by the level of creativity that we have seen from all the fantastic submissions. It has been a challenge to select a winner from such a large pool of high-quality artworks,” said Mansfield.

With the aim to celebrate creativity and harness the power artists have to envision and create a better tomorrow, Absolut launched the global Creative Competition in November 2018 with the mission to find the next bold creative voice of the brand. The final winner’s work will be displayed on a globally iconic OOH site – like Piccadilly Circus, London – and receive a €20 000 cash prize, joining the ranks of the 550 artists Absolut has collaborated with for the last four decades. The global winner will be announced and celebrated in May in Stockholm.