COMPETITION FOR THE DESIGN OF NEW KANNA AWARDS

3 August 2012

Since the first Absa KKNK 19 years ago, outstanding work presented at the festival has been honoured on different platforms until 2001 when the Kanna Awards was created as the one platform to acknowledge and honour all top quality work in the different genres presented at the Absa KKNK. The aim of this design competition is to find a visual artist who will be contracted to design and produce the maquettes for the Kanna Awards that will be presented to all the award winners at the annual prestigious award ceremony of the Absa KKNK for the next three years (2013 - 2015).

Guidelines

• All visual artists (whether they are well-known, established artists or emerging artists) are invited to participate in the competition.
• Visual suggestions and concepts for the proposed designs should be submitted to the festival programme manager, Theo Kemp, electronically at tkemp@kknk.co.za by 24 August 2012. Proposals may also be posted to the Absa KKNK, Third floor, Seppie Greeff Building, Voortrekker Road, Oudtshoorn, 6620.
• There are no entry fees or any limitations regarding the number of proposals that may be submitted by an artist.
• The artist needs to include the design concepts for the Kanna Awards' maquettes for the next three years with each proposal.
• There should be a detailed budget for the production of the Kanna Awards included in each proposal.
• The winning artist will receive the following prize: R10 000 for the winning design as well as a contract to produce the Kanna Awards' maquettes to be presented for 2013 to 2015.
• The following criteria should be taken into account when designing the maquettes: -
  1. The proposed concept design should symbolize the aims of the Kanna Awards which are to acknowledge and celebate excellence in all arts genres. Kindly also refer to the aims and background of these awards in the following paragrapghs.
  2. The award should be 30cm to 50cm high and it should be in a form that can easily be handled.
  3. The award should be made of natural materials and must be easy to create and the production costs for the awards should be cost effective.
  4. The winner will be responsible for the design of and the production of these awards.
• The artist will be expected to produce between 14 and 20 of the Kanna Awards' maquettes per annum. These awards are presented to i) the best arts presentations at the Absa KKNK, ii) as Afrikaans Onbeperk Awards to Afrikaans writers for their lifetime achievement, innovative thinkers in Afrikaans literature and prominently emerging Afrikaans writers, and iii) as Kuns Onbeperk Awards to individuals who have served the arts, and also to individuals who not only contributed prominently to the South African Arts milieu but also made their mark internationally. Although the design of the maquettes for different categories may be different in form, they need to display a recognizable unity in their design.

Background to the Present Kanna Awards

The Kanna Awards contribute positively to the continued marketing of acclaimed productions by production houses as well as the interest shown for these productions by the managements of other arts festivals. The Kanna Awards are awarded by an adjudication panel of experts who are involved in the different arts genres nationally. The members of this panel attend the festival in order to attend all the debut productions, to evaluate them in a transparent manner. According to a marking system used, this panel selects three finalists in every category. The total number of marks awarded to each of the three finalists in each category determines the eventual winner in each category.

The Categories for the Kanna Awards are the following:

• Kanna for Best Theatre Presentation (including Dance productions)
• Kanna for Best Actor
• Kanna for Best Actress
• Kanna for Best Musical Production (Contemporary Music an Musical Theatre)
• Kanna for Best Classical Performance
• Kanna for Best Director (including all genres)/li>
• Kanna for Best Visual Arts Presentation
• Kanna for Best Debut Production (including all genres)
• Slurpie Kanna for Best Emerging Artist (including all genres)
• Herrie Kanna for Mind Shifting, Innovative Production (including all genres)

During the Kanna Awards ceremony prizes are not only awarded to those who excel at the festival annually, but the Absa KKNK celebrates the creative ability of Afrikaans in all its various forms, the brave exploration of yet unexplored topics and themes, and works that create their own form of communication for everyone who thinks, dreams and acts in Afrikaans. Therefore the festival has been awarding Afrikaans Onberperk prizes to people who broaden and enrich the Afrikaans environment since its inception in 1995. As from 2000 this award has been given for two sub-categories. They are awarded to people who have served Afrikaans in their entire oeuvre (i.e. for Lifetime Achievement) and also for Innovative (thought-provoking) Work. The Absa KKNK board of directors amended the description of the latter to read 'n Nuwe Stem, (i.e. an emerging artist) in order to acknowledge the contribution made by excellent emerging Afrikaans authors in 2011. In addition to the Afrikaans Onbeperk Award for creating artists the need also arose for an award to honour a brilliant interpretation by an artist. From 2005 to 2009 a Special Kanna was awarded for a Life Achievement in Classical Music and in 2010 the category was adjusted to include a brilliant interpretation in any genre.

Awards for Afrikaans Onbeperk categories were made to the following:

Special Kanna Awards for Brilliant Interpretation were awarded to: -