Nestlé Art Project selects 15 South African art students

Picture: Nestle.co.za

“The company believes that the youth have a huge role to play in the future of our country and company. One hundred years of doing business in a country is a great milestone, which we wanted to celebrate with all South Africans – including youth. We wanted to offer young people an opportunity to express how they see our company and products. With 95% of our products being manufactured locally, with unique packaging designs, we challenged art students to use our packaging innovatively through the Nestlé Art Project,” said Ravi Pillay, Nestlé South Africa’s corporate affairs director.

Tertiary and high school students were briefed to consider South Africa’s social, cultural, historical and environmental contexts as well as Nestlé’s contribution to the local economy when creating their work. The company received more than 70 entries from art students in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West provinces.

Fifteen finalists were selected by a panel of South African art luminaries, including the Art Project’s principal curator Gordon Cook, who is the founding member of Vega School of Brand Leadership, gold Loeries recipient Ngkabiseng Motau and art gallery curator Sanele Manqele.

Additionally, two special panels of judges, the first comprising arts and culture journalists and the second of creative industry players, will make special selections for the Media, and Creatives Choice awards.

Judges (art luminaries)

1. Anet Norval – artist and academic navigator at Vega School of Brand Leadership
   
2. Gordon Cook – co-founder of Vega School of Brand Leadership
   
3. Jineil Kandasamy – creative director
   
4. Mbali Zondo – social media expert
   
5. Morag Rees – art teacher
   
6. Nkgabiseng Motau – senior art director/ illustrator/ entrepreneur
   
7. Peter Khoury – award-winning Chief Creative Officer
   
8. Sanele Manqele – art gallery curator

Creative choice judges

1. Gigi Lemayne – award-winning rapper
   
2. Lunga Shabalala – SABC 1 Selimathunzi presenter
   
3. Maria McCloy – entrepreneur/pop culture commentator

“We received an overwhelming response to the campaign and this confirms that our products resonate deeply with our young consumers, as expressed in the submitted creative artworks. We appreciate all the entries we received and wish all the finalists good luck,” concluded Pillay.

The winners will be announced on 26 July 2016 with a secondary and tertiary student walking away with a cash prize of R25,000 and R50,000 respectively. Certificates of merit will also be awarded to deserving students for their outstanding performance.

High school finalists

1. Astrid Khun – Sacred Heart College
   
2. Caitlin Shroder Beneke – Pretoria High School for Girls
   
3. Elizabeth Leong –Sacred Heart College
   
4. Emma Louren – Lebone II College of the Royal Bafokeng
   
5. Jiaao Yu – Sacred Heart College
   
6. Shahzaadee Valli – Crawford College Sandton
   
7. Zoe Edwards – Crawford College Sandton

Tertiary institutions finalists

1. Anda Mncayi – Cape Peninsula University of Technology
   
2. Domonique Viljoen – Cape Peninsula University of Technology
   
3. Gretchen Crots – North West University
   
4. Izabel Barkhuizen – North West University
   
5. Jana Strauss – Cape Peninsula University of Technology
   
6. Natalie Gendron & Kyron Green – Cape Peninsula University of Technology
   
7. Sonja Viviers – North West University
   
8. Thaaqib Abrahams – Cape Peninsula University of Technology