Sasol New Signatures Catalogue 2021 - Book - Page 11
COMMENT
During an interview discussing his spectacular rise to
musical stardom from humble beginnings, South African
rapper Emtee (given name, Mthembeni Ndevu) once said,
referring to his newfound fame and fortune: “It is what it
was not”.
This statement, which Emtee uttered several years back,
is an apt and succinct distillation of the Covid-19 moment
we are passing through. It is a moment that was not, a
moment that has not been seen for several generations. It is
a strange and unsettling moment. But who better to help us
interpret and get to grips with this moment than artists?
It has been an absolute privilege to oversee the return
of the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. As I
contemplate my first year as chairperson, I am humbled by
the significance this competition holds in the imaginaries
of visual artists throughout the country. I was impressed
by the amazing response we received from artists at all
the regional collection points, and equally gratified by the
quality and narrative power of the artworks submitted.
Thank you to all the artists who entered the competition
and your art indeed matters.
This event is a microcosm of the interconnected between
artists, the art institutions that train them, the galleries and
museums that showcase their talent, the art periodicals and
publication platforms that critique and publicise their work,
and finally, and perhaps most critically, the individual and
institutional patrons that invest in the art. Even in the wake
of a global pandemic, these ties remain strong, evidenced
on how this competition and all the individuals who make it
what it is, were able to deliver an outstanding project.
But this project is all about the art. Without the art and
the artists who dedicate themselves to the noble calling
of translating our experiences into inspired products, this
competition would not be. All the artworks submitted for
this year, including those that did not make into the final
judging round, are timeless records of the world as ‘it
was not’ seen through the creative lenses of the artistic
shamans of our generation. The art showcased in this
competition is our art. The stories being told through the
art, some of them light-hearted and others disturbing, are
our stories. Let us embrace and preserve these personal and
shared memoirs of our most unusual times.
SASOL NEW SIGNATURES • 2021 CATALOGUE
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