Sasol New Signatures Art Prize award ceremony in pictures

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARETS Editor

Not even a sense civil unrest that one could notice in the streets of Pretoria as some streets were blocked by labour union federation led march to the Union Buildings to complain mainly about the cost of living deterred the art crowd from attending their event, the announcement of this year’s winner of the popular Sasol New Signatures Art Competition.

The event was held in the heart of Pretoria, Arcadian, not far from the Union Buildings. To the art crowd, it was as If they were oblivious to the circumstances prevailing in the Capital City as they went ahead and announced the winner of the longest art competition in the country and most probably one of the richest, If not the richest.

I could not, but help and whipped out my phone to capture the mood at the award ceremony attended by artists, art patrons and executives from Sasol, the sponsor of these awards for over two decades of their several decades of existence. Under those circumstances of a celebratory mood prevailing at Pretoria Art Museum, we even for a moment forgot that there was a march not far from where we were. The arty type were simply there to celebrate Mondli Mbhele and the Merit Award Winners for a job well done.

OPEN CITY PRESENTED BY ART JOBURG 25 AUGUST TO 9 SEPTEMBER