Lifetime Achievement, ImpACT Awards announced

Speaking at the Awards function which was held at the Venue in Melrose Arch, ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs said "The ACT Awards are extrinsic incentives that highlight the values of a society and serve as a motivator for role players to excel. It is therefore imperative to acknowledge and celebrate the work and lives of artists who have made significant contributions to the cultural sector."

The prestigious ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards - presented each year for Theatre, Music, Visual Art and Literature - honour arts professionals whose extraordinary careers have had a profound and lasting impact on arts, culture and heritage and whose lifetime achievements have contributed significantly to the enrichment of cultural life in South Africa.

This year, the honours went to Elsa Joubert, for Literature (sponsored by Media24 Books); Professor Pitika Ntuli for Visual Arts (sponsored by the Vodacom Foundation); Sandra Prinsloo for Theatre (sponsored by DALRO): and Latozi Madosini for Music (sponsored by SAMRO). Lifetime Awards are nominated by the ACT Board of Trustees and selected by the current and previous ACT Trustees.

Honouring young artists

The ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals, sponsored by the Distell Foundation, are presented annually to honour young artists who have reached a professional standing in their discipline, and are within the first five years of their professional careers. After a public nominations process, the following awards were announced for 2013: Poorvi Bhana for Design, Motlatji Ditodi for Theatre, Camron Andrews in the category Music and Singing, and Blessing Ngobeni for Visual Arts.

Brenda Sakellarides, who headed the judging panel commented "The ImpACT Awards give the judges a significant task in determining the winning edge in what proved to be an exceptional and fascinating selection of finalists. What sets one nominee apart to deserve the distinction of a winning accolade? What is that x-factor? Fortunately our judging panel consisted of highly knowledgeable leaders from across the disciplines and it was invigorating to see the fervent engagement and debate as the winners finally emerged. It was a pleasure to lead the process and we are confident that we have judged well!"

The judging panel for the 2013 ImpACT Awards was headed by ACT Ambassador and creative professional Sakellarides, with judges Gita Pather, director of Wits Theatre; Steven Sack, arts administrator extraordinaire and director of the Origins Centre; Usha Seejarim, conceptual visual and public artist; Sifiso Kweyama, dancer/choreographer and company manager of Moving Into Dance and Concord Nkabinde, 2006 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz and bass guitarist.

The 2013 ACT Awards ceremony was presented in association with the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), Media24 Books, and the Vodacom Foundation and is supported by the Distell Foundation, CLASSICfeel Magazine, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), KykNet and Pink Room Productions. The Awards scores are audited by Independent Registered Auditor, AL van Heerden.

For more, go to www.act.org.za.