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NMMU takes four of seven awards in top art contest

At the Sasol New Signatures Award Ceremony in Pretoria were from left Gerhardt Coetzee, Alhyrian Laue, David Jones, Madelene van der Merwe, Lorinda Pretorius, Zane Lange, Kate-Lynn Zeiss.

NMMU's art students continue to fly the flag with their exceptional success in the country's oldest and leading competition for emerging artists. Four of the seven prizes in the SASOL New Signatures competition went to students from the School of Music, Art and Design, including that of the overall winner Alhyrian Laue, a BTech 2009 Fine Art alumnus. His winning entry was a sculpture entitled "Royal Visit".

Furthermore, although NMMU submitted the least number of entries to the competition, 16 students and NMMU alumni were selected for the final judging - the most from any region in the country!

"All tertiary institutions enter this competition so the results serve as a barometer," National Chairman Peter Binsbergen wrote to Head of Department Mary Duker in a congratulatory letter.

"Your art department is a cut above all I have seen," he added. Alhyrian received R60 000 for his efforts, while the three merit award winners each received R5 000. BTech Fine Art student Zane Lange's "Joystick" entry won him a merit award, while BTech Photography graduate Gerhardt Coetzee's entries "Bridge becoming" and "Becoming dereliction" and BTech Fine Art student Lorinda Pretorius' glass sculpture titled "Truth obstructed" resulted in the same.

The competition, which was, established in 1962 aims to assist emerging artists who have not had a solo exhibition, to become professional artists - hence the proliferation of student entries.

NMMU's Head of Fine Art, David Jones was invited to be a national judge for the competition, while photography lecturer Glenn Meyer and Introductory Studies: Art and Design Head of Department Andrieta Wentzel, who won the 2009 Creative and Performing Arts Awards, were asked to be local judges. "Your staff morale is high, all the lecturers contribute to a collective whole and this reflects on the calibre of students you produce and their enthusiasm for the art making process," wrote Bingsbergen.