THOHOYANDOU - The curatorial team of The Kebble Art Awards have completed the preliminary selection of finalists for the exhibition to take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in February.

Curator Clive van den Berg, co-curator Kathryn Smith and fellow curator Nandipha Mntambo visited the section centres in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Limpopo to view the artworks submitted for The Kebble. Of a total of 368 works they had selected to go forward for final selection, 207 were submitted in Cape Town, 11 in Port Elizabeth, nine in Durban, 109 in Johannesburg and 32 in the Limpopo region.

The curatorial team were impressed with the quality and scale of the work submitted in Limpopo, where there were three selection centres, at Polokwane, Thohoyando and Giyani. The curators also visited artists at their homes in Giyani to view work that could not be delivered due to size and transport constraints.

David Barritt, producer of the Awards, said, “The Kebble Awards recognised that it was necessary to have three selection centres in Limpopo to give the artists in the region the same access as artists living in the bigger urban centres.” Van den Berg said: “We returned to Johannesburg with the impression that the Limpopo artists, despite lack of resources and infrastructure, are producing exceptional work.”

“It is not surprising that in 2004 The Kebble was jointly won by wood sculptor Phillip Rikhotso from the Giyani region. In view of the long-standing tradition of wood carvers in this region, it was very important for us to have made the trip to enable us to represent the Limpopo artists at the Kebble exhibition and provide exposure of their talent to a wider audience.”

The curators have been most surprised by the artistic Maswanganyi family. The work of husband and wife, Johannes and Ester Maswanganyi, was selected in Giyani and that of their son, Collen, at the Johannesburg regional centre.

Artists selected could be in line to win one of the awards at The Kebble, which carries a purse of R560 000.

The Limpopo artists to look out for include Phula Richard Chauke, Ndou Owen, Avhashoni Mainganye, Elikanah Nemurunzine, Meriam Sithole, Thomas Khorommbi, Ndou Mberegeni, Magoro Azwimpheleli, Mbedzi Rudzani, Baloyi Reagen. Final selections will take place in Cape Town this month by a panel of independent selectors, comprising previous Kebble winner Tanya Poole, Johannesburg Art Gallery director Clive Kelner, and artist Sipho Mdanda, who is also curator of the Freedom Park Museum in Pretoria.