Sasol New Signatures
by Robyn Sassen
While corporate sponsorship for the arts is quickly becoming de rigeur in different circles, the old standbys who set the tone so many years ago are upping their stakes too. This was celebrated recently in a presentation by Sasol, where they relaunched their 15-year-old New Signatures award with more bells and whistles and groundbreaking possibilities. The prize money has been cranked up to R50 000 and a dedicated website has been designed to facilitate entries from all over the country.
This kind of technological development often spawns problems of its own, but Sasol's Helen Weldrick explained the new development enthusiastically. She looks forward to works being granted "the benefit of the doubt" if they were submitted online and looked good from this perspective. The devil's advocate in my head conjured up things like non-existent artworks which looked really cool online... Be that as it may, it's a sound idea and hopefully neither the technology nor the morals of prospective entrants will play havoc with it.
Sasol remains at the forefront of the corporate art game. They started their collection, including more than 2 000 pieces these days, more than 20 years ago, and as a competition, the New Signatures has been an important tool for launching artists into serious and exciting careers. Diane Victor and Kathryn Smith, recipients of the award in 1986 and 1999 respectively, spoke at the launch. Victor focused on the pat-on-the-back that the award offers, giving a young artist the confidence and affirmation to go out there and give one's work voice in the bigger world outside of university walls. She added, "... all permanently cash-strapped students know, the chance to make any money off one's work is greatly appreciated and needed".
Smith recalled that her win for a video piece was unexpected. She had only been at the prize-giving to cover the event for ArtThrob. When her name was announced, it left her bamboozled and confused. Despite this, she praised Sasol for having nurtured her understanding of herself as a cultural worker and for having forged important networking and affirmative ties that continue to make it possible for her to make the art-based choices she does.
So the New Signatures has a new face, and hopefully will attract a whole lot of new competitors. Entrants must be over 18 and work must be submitted on July 7 or 8 between 10am and 4pm. Entry forms with all the details are being distributed to art educational institutions and galleries nationally, but further info can be obtained from Teresa Lizamore (011) 441-3244 or Nandi Hilliard (012) 346-3100. Watch this space! And this one: www.sasolsignatures.co.za
