COMMENTDuring an interview discussing his spectacular rise tomusical stardom from humble beginnings, South Africanrapper Emtee (given name, Mthembeni Ndevu) once said,referring to his newfound fame and fortune: “It is what itwas not”.This statement, which Emtee uttered several years back,is an apt and succinct distillation of the Covid-19 momentwe are passing through. It is a moment that was not, amoment that has not been seen for several generations. It isa strange and unsettling moment. But who better to help usinterpret and get to grips with this moment than artists?It has been an absolute privilege to oversee the returnof the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. As Icontemplate my first year as chairperson, I am humbled bythe significance this competition holds in the imaginariesof visual artists throughout the country. I was impressedby the amazing response we received from artists at allthe regional collection points, and equally gratified by thequality and narrative power of the artworks submitted.Thank you to all the artists who entered the competitionand your art indeed matters.This event is a microcosm of the interconnected betweenartists, the art institutions that train them, the galleries andmuseums that showcase their talent, the art periodicals andpublication platforms that critique and publicise their work,and finally, and perhaps most critically, the individual andinstitutional patrons that invest in the art. Even in the wakeof a global pandemic, these ties remain strong, evidencedon how this competition and all the individuals who make itwhat it is, were able to deliver an outstanding project.But this project is all about the art. Without the art andthe artists who dedicate themselves to the noble callingof translating our experiences into inspired products, thiscompetition would not be. All the artworks submitted forthis year, including those that did not make into the finaljudging round, are timeless records of the world as ‘itwas not’ seen through the creative lenses of the artisticshamans of our generation. The art showcased in thiscompetition is our art. The stories being told through theart, some of them light-hearted and others disturbing, areour stories. Let us embrace and preserve these personal andshared memoirs of our most unusual times.SASOL NEW SIGNATURES • 2021 CATALOGUE9
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