Eleven Win the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Awards 2005

Painter Mary Ogembo was one of the 11 winners of the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Awards 2005.

Eleven winners have been chosen out of 170 entries from across the globe to the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Awards 2005, organised by the Commonwealth Foundation. They include painter Kabelo Modise (Botswana); sculptors Nutan Bala and Dhananjay Kumar, and printmaker/installation artist Dimple Shah (India); textile artist Bryan Duncan (Jamaica); painter Mary Ogembo (Kenya); installation artist Marnie Slater (New Zealand); printmaker Fatima Saeed (Pakistan); painter/printmaker Sheku Mansaray (Sierra Leone); textile artist Lee-Anne Hampson (United Kingdom); and painter Stary Mwaba (Zambia).

The winners will have the opportunity to participate in cultural exchanges within the Commonwealth. They will spend time in a different Commonwealth country on attachment to an arts institution or to an artist of their choice. These award winners will work with the artists and communities to both develop and share their skills and insights from their culture, besides learning the culture of their host country. The aim is to promote cultural dialogue and understanding among Commonwealth artists while they develop their technical and personal skills.

Two panels of judges comprising artists and art experts selected the winners based on slides and photographs of their artwork. They looked for skill, originality and potential. The contestants were also assessed on their organisational and motivational skills, which are required for them to manage their attachment programmes.

Robert Loder, Chair of Triangle Arts Trust, who was one of the judges, said: "The Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Awards are an important initiative not just for the individual artist but for the wider community of artists around the Commonwealth. The Awards give many artists opportunities, not otherwise available, to expand their horizons and share their skills with other artists from the Commonwealth. The exchange of practice and ideas between artists of different cultural backgrounds creates a stimulus and interest in artmaking amongst a wide audience in countries to which the award winners travel and work. Long may this imaginative programme continue."

Dr Mark Collins, Director of the Foundation, said: "The standard of entries this year was very high -- I am confident that these awards are helping to launch the careers of some very promising artists and craftspeople. A key element of the Commonwealth's approach to world affairs is to build understanding and friendship between nations with very different cultures. These awards achieve some remarkable cultural exchanges that exemplify the spirit of the Commonwealth."

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 250, 31 August 2005 

Related Websites:

• Commonwealth Foundation