The ANNA Award, which annually aims to discover, recognise and nurture women-identifying artists from the African continent and the diaspora, last week announced the artists chosen as finalists for 2024.
Applications numbering 743 from 38 countries were submitted, with the selection committee whittling it down to just 12. The winning artist will take home a R100 000 cash prize, a residency programme hosted by SAFFCA (Southern African Foundation and Fellowship for Contemporary Art), a presentation at the 2025 RMB Latitudes Art Fair, a profile on Latitudes Online and a year's supply of ANNA feminine hygiene products.
The finalists are Isabella Maake, Jana Visser, Kay-Leigh Fisher, Leah Rachel Hawker, Lee-Ann Olwage, Ntsako Nkuna, Silindokuhle Shandu and Xanthe Lardner-Burke from South Africa; and Marie Aimée Fattouche from Egypt, Ethel Aanyu from Uganda, Xanthe Somers from Zimbabwe, and Yaknoabasi Jessicah Ene from Nigeria.
The selection committee – Swakara Atwell-Bennett, founder and CEO of art platform BetterShared; mathematician, businesswoman and entrepreneur Lezanne Human; artist, curator and social activist Ruzy Rusike; and the chief of curatorial affairs and public programmes at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, Key Jo Lee – will choose the winner to be announced on 7 August 2024. All the finalists will be put to a public vote for the Audience Award, the winner of which will receive a profile on Latitudes Online.
Representing diverse mediums, the finalists include photographers and digital artists, weavers, painters, sculptors and ceramicists. ‘As an artist who works directly with themes of “women’s work” and domesticity, I am honoured to be chosen for an award that gives female voices a space to be heard and recognised, as well as shedding light on their subject matter,’ said Zimbabwean ceramic artist Somers.
On the importance of the award in honouring the artistic work of African women, Egyptian Fattouche said, ‘Being a finalist for the ANNA Award 2024 means I am seen in the powerful web of women-identifying artists from the African continent and its worldwide diaspora. I am honoured to be chosen alongside 11 other artists to let our voices be heard.’
Debuted in 2022, previous winners were Egyptian artist Nada Baraka and South African Lerato Nkosi.
Cast your vote for the Audience Award here https://editorial.latitudes.online/blog/posts/meet-the-top-12-anna-award-finalists/
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