The Bank Windhoek Triennial 2020 Awards Ceremony and Exhibition Opening will occur on Thursday, 22 April 2021, at 16:00. With a total of 491 submissions received, of which 233 are from outside Windhoek, the event promises to be bigger and better than before.
The Bank Windhoek Triennial 2020 will be Namibia’s first online Triennial, with an online exhibition and shop on the National Art Gallery of Namibia’s (NAGN) website www.nagn.org.na. “It will also be the first Triennial that will be engaging in a global conversation of visual art through virtual platforms and an E-catalogue,” said NAGN’s Chief Executive Officer, Snobia Kaputu, adding that the concepts submitted this year are powerful and their techniques are exceptionally mastered. “These submissions range in various disciplines from the more traditional acrylic forms on canvas, oil, and sculptures who boast authentic Namibian ways of creating like printmaking and welded sculptures to more innovative approaches like pointillism and employing combinations of various modes of creating to present a coherent concept,” said Kaputu.
A NAGN initiative in collaboration with Bank Windhoek, the official opening of the Triennial will be live-streamed on the NAGN Facebook platform @NationalArtGalleryOfNamibia and exhibited in the NAGN Galleries. The public is welcome to view this exhibition free of charge from Friday, 23 April 2021, until Saturday, 31 July 2021. All artwork sales are for the artist’s benefit.
Judges profile
The Bank Windhoek Triennial 2020 judges comprised seasoned artists, art historians, and educators facilitated by the NAGN’s two senior curators. The judges’ mammoth task was digesting through 491 submissions, which were reduced to 152 artworks selected for the exhibition. They also had to choose awards for eight categories, which the judges will reveal at the exhibition opening and award ceremony.
The judges are namely; former Director of NAGN from 2005 to 2011, Josef Madisia; Developer of the Visual Culture course at the University of Namibia (Unam), Margo Timm Forster; College of the Arts (COTA) Lecturer, Peter Kewowo; UNAM’s Textile and Fashion Studies Lecturer, Loini Iizyenda; and the former Director of Arts in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Ervast Mtota. NAGN’s Acting Chief Curator and Researcher, Desiree !Nanuses and its Associate Curator, Elize van Huyssteen, facilitated the judging process.
Prizes up for grabs
There are eight awards categories: Overall Winner, Two-Dimensional Art, Three-Dimensional Art, New Media, Contemporary Customary Art, Textile Art, and Best Newcomer Award, as well as two Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The Overall winner will receive a Bank Windhoek cash prize and international residency sponsored by NAGN for the financial year 2021/22. The artist will take up the residence early in 2022, depending on COVID-19 regulations. All the winners will receive cash prizes, trophies, and all exhibition participants will receive a certificate of participation. All the winners will benefit from a mentorship program with the NAGN, culminating in a group exhibition for all winners. They will be tasked with sharing their skills and knowledge as winners through workshops and symposia.
Bank Windhoek’s Head of Corporate Social Investments, Sponsorship, and Events, Bronwyn Moody, wished the participants the best. “We are looking forward to seeing what the artists have been up to during these challenging times. We are sure their artworks will tell us amazing stories,” she said.