Art competition changes direction

THIS year the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum has re-launched the Eastern Cape's most prestigious art competition as a curated visual arts show.

Art professionals from across South Africa were invited to participate in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Biennial by nominating artists they felt had significantly contributed to art in the Eastern Cape.

Thirty artists have been selected from the nominations to be part of this celebration of Eastern Cape artistic excellence. The selected artists will be invited to submit one artwork for the Biennial exhibition, which will open on October 23.

As in previous years, the exhibition is open to artists who live and work in the Eastern Cape. This year artists who are alumni of accredited tertiary institutions in the Eastern Cape but who now reside elsewhere in South Africa were also accepted.

"The exhibition was born from the desire to foster local talent and to establish a noteworthy contemporary exhibition of Eastern Cape art," said the museum's Emma O'Brien. "The museum launched the Biennial in 2006 in support of this commitment. Since then it has helped to promote 35 top established artists and new signatures through three group exhibitions and four outstanding solo award exhibitions."

This year's nominations were received from around South Africa and adjudicated by local art professionals.

The selected artists are: Dorothy Barnes, Cleone Cull, Maureen de Jager, Beverly de Lange, Christine Dixie, Derrick Erasmus, Charmaine Haines, Anthony Harris, Nic Hauser, Lydia Holmes, Tim Hopwood, Christiaan Kritzinger, Alhyrian Laue, Carla Leisching, Nomusa Makhubu, Brent Meistre, Nigel Mullins, Siyabonga Ngaki, Susan Opperman, Jennifer Ord, Monique Pelser, Tanya Poole, Marc Pradervand, Stephen Rosin, Dolla Sapeta, Zack Taljaard, Johnathan van der Walt and Rat Western.