The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) Awards are held annually in recognition and celebration of excellence in South Africa within the arts, culture and creative sectors. ACT is inviting nominations for ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals, sponsored by the Distell Foundation in partnership with Sun International. This year, ACT is pleased to launch a dance category, which makes it a total of five ImpACT Awards to honour young professional artists.
2014 ImpACT Award Winner for Music & Singing, Nomfundo Xaluva, receiving her Award from Jacques Bessenger, Nolo Phiri and Khensani Mlondzo
These awards have gained national acclaim and exposure throughout the industry since 2010, and are presented to individuals, companies or organisations under the age of 30, operating in South Africa and in the first five years of their professional careers.
Previous ImpACT winners include The Muffinz, Blessing Ngobeni, Phillip Dokptla, Bambo Sibiya, Camron Andrews, Motlaji Ditodi, Ozlo Clothing Store, Nomfundo Xaluva, Thabo Makhetha Designs, Kyla Davis and Jade Bowers.
ImpACT Awards are presented in five broad arts categories with selected disciplines being eligible for consideration in each. The public nominations are now open in the following categories:
- ImpACT Award for Visual Art – Artists working in the mediums of Fine Art, Sculpting, Public Installations and Photography are eligible for nomination.
- ImpACT Award for Theatre – Artists practicing the disciplines, Acting, Directing and Writing for Theatre, Musical Theatre and Physical Theatre are eligible for nomination.
- ImpACT Award for Music & Singing – Classical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, traditional, Jazz and other music composers, producers, musicians and singers are eligible for nomination.
- ImpACT Award for Design – Artists working in the areas of Craft, Jewelry and Fashion Design, Graphic Design and Arts-based Web Design are eligible for nomination.
- ImpACT Award for Dance – Trained contemporary, traditional, African, ballet and other dancers and choreographers are eligible for nomination.
ACT CEO, Pieter Jacobs is passionate about encouraging young artists and creatives around South Africa to be recognised and honoured. “At ACT we spend our time scouring the industry and networking to find these talented young people and we rely on the public to assist with nominations. The ACT Awards sets a benchmark for quality and encourages emerging artists to not only meet those standards but improve them. The aim has always been to celebrate and acknowledge excellence because the pursuit of excellence is in itself an admirable human activity and encouraging it is noble on that basis,” says ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs.
ACT is open for nominations for the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals until 06 September 2015. Winners will receive a cash prize of R2,000.00, a certificate, a spread in Creativefeel Magazine worth over R30,000.00 and additional PR opportunities that will be generated through the ACT Awards.
Winners of ImpACT Awards are selected by an independent panel of judges, finalists will be announced at 3 media briefings in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in September and winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November 2015.
Please click here to submit your nominations.
Featuring prominently as part of the ACT Awards are the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards. These Awards are awarded to deserving individuals who have made a profound impact and who have contributed significantly to the enrichment of the arts and culture environment in South Africa during their lives. The categories for Lifetime Achievement Awards are Visual Arts, Theatre, Arts Advocacy, Music and Literature.
The 2015 ImpACT Awards are presented in partnership with the Distell Foundation and Sun International. The ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented in partnership with Nedbank Arts Affinity, Media24 Books, DALRO, JTI, Creativefeel Magazine and SAMRO .
Click here for more information about the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT).