Art bursaries on offer

Works can be submitted to the CIT:Y Festival for consideration for one of nine arts bursaries, open also to the performing arts. The works will also be exhibited during Arts Alive.
ART students who are in tertiary institutions can win bursaries from the City to study at any of Joburg’s colleges and universities through the CIT:Y Festival.

The awards reward young talentThe awards reward young talentEight bursaries worth R20 000 each are on offer; there is also a Career Bursary worth R30 000, which will be awarded to the best newcomer.

The money will be paid directly to the institution where the winner is enrolled to study in 2012. There are eight categories in which students can submit work: graphic design, textile design, visual arts, photography, music, dance, broadcasting and animation.

According to Alba Letts, the acting director of arts, culture and heritage in the City’s community development department, the bursaries are handed out to encourage young people to pursue a career in the arts.

They were established in 2003 to “showcase and reward Joburg’s up and coming talent and maintain the City’s reputation as a leading African art and culture hub”, she says.

Other objectives are to recognise and create a platform for the emerging artists’ talents; to celebrate, promote and market Joburg as the leading destination on the African continent for the arts; and to expose what is on offer at various educational institutions.

On 19 August, judges will announce the nominees, shortlisted from the submissions made by the students themselves. The winners will be named at an awards ceremony on 24 August at Museum Africa in Newtown.

It will be followed by a month-long exhibition of the work submitted by students for the CIT:Y Festival, held at the museum. The exhibition falls under the Arts Alive International Festival banner, and will run from 25 August to 30 September.

“The exhibition is professionally curated and is accessible to the general public, providing students with a rare opportunity to display their work,” says Letts.

All students who are enrolled at any Johannesburg art institution are encouraged to submit an entry form no later than 3 August. “We invite students to submit their project in the category of their choice.”

Entry forms are available online here.