The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) urges interested parties to enter for the annual ImpACT Awards, which close on 6 September. ACT will host the ceremony to recognise and celebrate excellence within the arts, culture and creative sectors in South Africa. They are inviting the public to nominate eligible young professionals for this year’s awards. The awards have gained traction and national acclaim throughout the industry since their establishment in 1998.
The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) urges interested parties to enter for the annual ImpACT Awards, which close on 6 September. ACT will host the ceremony to recognise and celebrate excellence within the arts, culture and creative sectors in South Africa. They are inviting the public to nominate eligible young professionals for this year’s awards. The awards have gained traction and national acclaim throughout the industry since their establishment in 1998.
The ImpACT Awards are presented to individuals under the age of 30 and companies or organisations operating in South Africa that are in the first five years of operation or their careers.
This year ACT is introducing a dance category in addition to the visual art, theatre, music and singing, and design categories.
The public is asked to nominate young professionals for 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 practising the disciplines of acting, directing and writing for theatre, musical theatre and physical theatre are eligible.
ImpACT award for music and singing – classical, contemporary, hip hop, traditional, and jazz musicians as well as music composers, producers, musicians and singers from other spheres are eligible.
ImpACT award for design – artists working in craft, jewellery, fashion design, graphic design and arts-based web design are eligible.
ImpACT award for dance – trained contemporary, traditional, African, ballet and other dancers and choreographers are eligible.
“The ImpACT awards for Young Professionals is ACT's way of honouring those artists who produce extraordinary and cutting-edge work. They are those professionals who move us in ways we never imagined possible. We hope that this kind of acknowledgement encourages them to continue pushing boundaries and that in years to come they will join the ranks of Lifetime Achievement winners we so admire for the game-changing work they do,” says ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs.
Winners will receive a cash prize of R2,000, a certificate, a spread in Creative Feel magazine worth morew than R30,000 and additional PR opportunities generated through the ACT Awards.
Recipients will get ongoing backing from ACT in the form of promotional support in their professional careers.
Some of the previous ImpACT winners include The Muffinz, Blessing Ngobeni, Phillip Dikotla, Bambo Sibiya, Camron Andrews, Motlaji Ditodi, Ozlo Clothing Store, Bevan de Wet, Poorvi Bhana, Nomfundo Xaluva, Thabo Makhetha Designs, Kyla Davis and Jade Bowers.
Finalists will be announced at three media briefings in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in September.
Winners of ImpACT Awards are selected by an independent panel of judges and will be announced at the awards ceremony in Johannesburg in November.
Follow the link to submit nominations: http://tinyurl.com/lc29a66 or visit http://www.act.org.za/programmes/awards.html Featuring prominently as part of the ACT Awards are the lifetime achievement awards for 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.
For more information about the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) visit www.act.org.za.
