Announcement of the 2022 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winners

Visual Arts – Lady Skollie
Poetry – Koleka Putuma
Theatre – Mahlatsi Mokgonyana and Billy Langa (Theatre Duo)
Dance – Sylvester Thamsanqa (Thami) Majela
Music – Msaki
Jazz – Linda Sikhakhane

Recipients of these awards over the past four decades have become household names. Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners are cherished as national treasures, and indeed they enjoy international acclaim. They also find and develop new audiences across the African continent.

They have dreamed. They have laboured, sweated, cried ... and then they have dreamed some more. Late nights, early mornings, burning the candle at both ends. They have made, and re-made, and re-made. They have been divinely inspired. They have despaired. Through it all, they have remained dedicated to their craft – and they have triumphed. They have pursued excellence. They have built, brick by metaphorical brick. They are not just ‘creatives’; they are creators.

This group of artists from diverse fields represents a generation of South Africans who have given their all to a career in the arts. They have been in the trenches with their peers, and they have summited some peaks together too. But these seven artists also stand out from the crowd. Their work has already been recognised for its innovation, its bravery, its beauty, its truth. They have been around the block once or twice; they are not new to the game, although they still have youth on their side.

Standard Bank is proud to continue its mission as an investor in the arts and an enabler of artists. When it became the title sponsor of the National Arts Festival in 1984, Standard Bank took on the custodianship of the Young Artist Awards (which had been established three years previously). Since then, Standard Bank’s role as a leading corporate sponsor has made it an integral part of the South African arts landscape.

The relationship between the National Arts Festival and the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards remains vital to the impact of the awards, both on the careers of the recipients and on the country’s creative sector. Award winners will be given the opportunity to direct, perform or exhibit at the 2023 National Arts Festival, with substantial financial support provided by Standard Bank.

Qoute from Monica

"Standard Bank is accustomed to adapting to constantly changing economic, social, political, and cultural environments - and the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards are no exception, ensuring maximum benefits for the South African arts industry and proving to young artists that #ItCanBe".