Held every two years, the Spier Contemporary is the largest art exhibition in South Africa. It provides a platform for artists of all genres to showcase their work and to explore South Africa’s diversity without being compromised by the limitations of technology, space and access.
One of the cores of the Spier Contemporary is its national competition. It is open to all artists and art forms, from traditional painting, printmaking and photography to new media, film and performance. For 2010, submissions took place at 13 selection centres across South Africa with over 2 700 entries in total, double the amount from the previous competition.
The prizes awarded consisted of five cash prizes worth a combined R500 000 and seven international Artist-in-Residence prizes, offering artists a great opportunity to simply be artists in a new and stimulating environment, while also developing invaluable connections.
The winners of the Spier Contemporary 2010 Competition were announced on 13 March at the City Hall in Cape Town.
The cash prize-winners:
- Araminta de Clermont (photography) – Thembi, Maliviwe, Lonwabo & Sonwabo
- Dave Robertson (photography) – Paper Trails
- Jessica Gregory & Zen Marie (video installation) – The Perfect Leader
- Christopher Swift (mixed media) – Dreamcatcher, Arise
- Hasan and Husain Essop (photography) – Pushing Iron, El Cordero (Lamb), Last Supper in Havana, Fast Twins, Puyo (Chicken)
The Artist-in-Residence prizes were awarded as follows:
- Lindi Arbi and Mohau Modisakeng – Gyeonggi Creation Centre, South Korea
- Sicelo Ziqubu and Jacki McInnes – The Instituto Sacatar and the Sacatar Foundation, Bahia, Brazil
- Mlu Zondi – 18th Street Arts Centre in Los Angeles, California, US
- Angela de Jesus and Johann van der Schijff – Thamdigi Foundation Prize in Arnhem, Netherlands
In addition to the above winners, a “Peoples Choice” Award will be given at the end of the Cape Town leg of the exhibition. The artist chosen for the award will be based on the votes by those visiting the exhibition.
The Spier Contemporary Exhibition is open to the public from 14 March to 14 May at the Cape Town City Hall, from 10am to 6pm every day of the week. Entrance is free, so get your fix of some of the best art coming out of South Africa today.
If you’d like to take some home, make a turn at the pop-up gift shop, which showcases some of the best arts, crafts and products featured at this year's Design Indaba Expo.
