By Nii B. Andrews.
Thirty artists have been shortlisted as finalists for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2022.
The Prize was launched in 2021 as a tool for empowering artists and for sharing the myriad narratives arising from the African continent.
The entries for this year’s prize include metal installation, abstract and figurative painting, photography.
A group of eminent art specialists will constitute the adjudication panel: writer, curator, and museum director David Elliott; Exhibitions Director, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Janine Gaëlle Dieudji; Curator, Norval Foundation, Khanya Mashabela; exhibition curator and contemporary art consultant, Marie-Ann Yemsi; and Chief Executive and Director, Design Museum, London, Tim Marlow.
The finalists were chosen from an original cohort of 336 applications from 18 different African countries with the largest numbers coming from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Morocco and Angola.
The winner will take away a cash prize of 500 000 Rand and also showcase her work in a solo exhibition at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town.
The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize is a collaboration between the Norval Foundation and the Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF).
Howard Bilton, the founder of The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) stated, “SAF has supported thousands of disadvantaged children around the world with programmes that use the principles of art therapy, now considered a mainstream science. We are very proud of the work the foundation does and we look to continue that in Africa where there is a clear and obvious need.”
In order to serve the public, the work of the finalists will be sold through auction, with half of the proceeds going to the artist and the other half being used to fund Norval Foundation’s Education Programme, which uses art to support children’s education and holistic development.
The auction will be administered by Sotheby’s, and is planned to run from 15th to 22nd February, 2022.