SBYA Archives - National Arts Festival

Winners of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 2020

The 5 artists shaking up SA’s creative industry

Blessing Ngobeni, Nthato Mokgata, Lulu Mlangeni, Jefferson Tshabalala, and Sisonke Xonti join the ranks of the Standard Bank Young Artists Five of South Africa’s most innovative and talented creative individuals were named as the worthy recipients of one of the country’s most sought-after arts prizes – the Standard Bank Young Artist Award – at a... Read More

Published on November 5, 2019

I seek to work around the violence – Gabrielle Goliath

Gabrielle Goliath is this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art. This is the speech she gave at the opening of the visual art exhibitions on Friday 28 June. Her exhibition in the Monument Gallery is called This Song is For… Bohemian Rhapsody… This song is for… Nondumiso Msimanga Ave Maria… This song is... Read More

Published on June 29, 2019

Kitty Phetla

Kitty Phetla: dancing to her own tune

Kitty Phetla is a senior soloist and choreographer at Joburg Ballet. She has toured and performed extensively on stages across the globe. One of her most noteworthy recent performances was her Queen Modjadji-inspired Rain Dance for Cape Town, in situ at the then-parched Theewaterskloof Dam. You grew up in Johannesburg. How did you discover dance? And what led you to your... Read More

Published on June 23, 2019

Mandla Mlangeni: fluent in the language of jazz

Mandla Mlangeni is a jazz trumpeter and composer who has become a popular fixture on local and international stages. A gifted bandleader, Mlangeni has carved out a name for himself with various bands and ensembles, including the Amandla Freedom Ensemble, with which he has released two albums. Fluent in the language of jazz — with a... Read More

Published on June 14, 2019

SBYA2019 for Theatre Amy Jeptha

Amy Jephta: Championing theatre for and by women

This year’s Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre is Amy Jephta. She is a playwright who has also built a reputation as a filmmaker, activist and academic. A champion of theatre by and for women, she has been a driving force in local and global initiatives promoting opportunities for female playwrights. Looking at your career so... Read More

Published on April 22, 2019

2019 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners

5 artistic innovators receive ‘ultimate accolade’

Mandla Mlangeni, Kitty Phetla, Megan-Geoffrey Prins, Amy Jephta and Gabrielle Goliath join the Standard Bank Young Artist honour roll Since its inception almost four decades ago, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award has come to be regarded as the ultimate accolade for young South African arts innovators on the cusp of greatness – and the... Read More

Published on October 31, 2018

Thandi Ntuli: the disciple of cool

‘A world without music would be like walking in a grey world, difficult to get through. I think art helps us get through some of the difficult things.’ Thandi Ntuli, the 2018 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz, is a leading pianist and composer among a rich cadre of South Africa’s upcoming jazz musicians.... Read More

Published on June 20, 2018

SBYA18 for Dance - Musa Hlatswayo

Musa Hlatshwayo: exploring black male identity

‘This is an opportunity to create and stage work that will hopefully address the sociopolitical ills that we are currently going through, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, without forgetting to celebrate and embrace that which we are successfully achieving and thriving for as South Africans.’ Dancer, choreographer and performing artist Musa Hlatshwayo has received the Standard Bank... Read More

Published on June 11, 2018

Jemma Kahn / Photo: Jaco B Van Schalkwyk

Jemma Kahn: the pay-off of taking risks

We asked theatre maker Jemma Kahn, this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre, what she’s been working on for this year’s National Arts Festival. This is what she said… Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud – the two British painters on whom my new play, THE BORROW PIT, is based – are referred to repeatedly... Read More

Published on May 3, 2018

Nigerian saxophonist Femi Koya

Jazztown 2018: mining the past to unearth music’s gems

The who’s who of jazz will descend on Grahamstown this July for the 31st Standard Bank Jazz Festival, which runs concurrently to the National Arts Festival. Taking place from 28 June until 7 July, this year’s programme is a celebration of jazz’s greatest legacies – reimagined for the future with an inspired twist by a league... Read More

Published on April 30, 2018