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Less than a month left for SA Taxi Foundation 2017 Art Award entries

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Less than a month left for SA Taxi Foundation 2017 Art Award entries:

Entries for the third year of the ground-breaking SA Taxi Foundation Art Awards close on 13 February 2017.

“We’ve already received some very interesting entries but would like to remind artists who are still working on their ideas that there is less than a month left in which to submit their pieces,” says SA Taxi Foundation director, Lishani Letchmiah.

“We know from reactions to the first two Awards that artists are intrigued by the opportunity to mix fine art and graphic design and, as the Awards have progressed, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of artists participating as well as an evolution in the type of work being submitted.

“2017 should, therefore, produce remarkable work on a significant scale.”

The brief for this year’s Awards is ‘my Africa’.

The SA Taxi Foundation Art Awards is a watershed initiative, in that it requires artists to produce an original work that can also be interpreted as a decal on minibus taxis. The ten taxis that for six months each carry a decal from a finalist effectively become mobile art galleries. The Awards are therefore a leader in the global trend towards mobile art.

By taking art to the streets where the majority of South Africans can be exposed to it, the Awards broaden art’s impact on the society of which it is both an expression and a reflection.

Also, by encouraging the cross-over between fine art and graphic design, the Awards open doors for fine artists into the world of commerce. They help artists become comfortable working to a brief and proving to the world of business which, as a major consumer of the arts is a major market for them, that they have the skills to put creativity to work as a brand ambassador.

In addition, by collaborating with minibus taxi operators in moving the art around the community, the SA Taxi Foundation Art Awards help to position the minibus tax industry as a patron of the arts and, therefore, as an important contributor to the psychological and emotional well being of society.

In 2016, for all of these reasons, the Awards won the First Time Sponsor Category of the BASA Awards. The BASA Awards are sponsored jointly by Hollard and Business Day and are the only awards in South Africa that acknowledge business support for and partnerships in the arts.

Before being implemented as decals, the work of each year’s SA Taxi Foundation Art Awards finalists and winner go on display for a month at the Lizamore & Associates Gallery on the art strip in Rosebank, Johannesburg. This ensures that the works gain exposure within the art community, enhancing the artists’ credibility among connoisseurs and providing emerging artists with entree to the formal art industry.

For information about entering the 2016/2017 award and to download your entry form, please go to http://sataxiartaward.co.za, or the award project managers, Lizamore & Associates Gallery at 011 880 8802 and suen@lizamore.co.za

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Source: Port Elizabeth – MyPR.

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