The inaugural PPC Imaginarium Awards Zimbabwe declared its first-ever annual winners at a gala event held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare on 30 May 2018.
Emerging creatives across two entry categories – fashion and sculpture – received cash prizes for their innovative concrete creations. Each category winner won USD$3,800, while the runners-up received USD$1,200 each.
The PPC Imaginarium Awards Zimbabwe 2018 was launched collaboratively by PPC South Africa and PPC Zimbabwe, following the success of the competition in South Africa. Having cemented its reputation as South Africa’s most supportive arts and design competition for emerging creatives, under the guidance of Director Daniel van der Merwe, the PPC Imaginarium Awards has reaffirmed its status as a springboard for budding talent with its first foray into Zimbabwean territory.
Launched in 2014, the contest invites emerging creatives to develop innovative works using concrete, and welcomes entries in film, fashion, sculpture, jewellery and industrial design. In addition, the PPC Imaginarium Awards runs an award for architecture as a separate programme.
These finalists were chosen by a panel of prominent artists and industry experts from Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean judges were joined by both the PPC Imaginarium Awards Director Daniel van der Merwe and the curator of the PPC Imaginarium Awards Travelling Exhibition Stephen Hobbs.
Following this, category winners and runners-up were selected from the national finalists. The final stage of the judging was conducted by Hobbs and Van Der Merwe, in conjunction with international judge Raimi Gbadamosi, a renowned artist, curator and academic.
The full list of 2018 winners is as follows:
SCULPTURE
- Winner: Victor Nyakauru
- Runner-up: Sikulile Sibanda
- Runner-up: Neville Starling
FASHION
- Winner: Sandra Matamisa
- Runner-up: Sikhanyisiwe Sebata
As the competition aims to support rising artists, the works by the winners, runners-up and all the finalists have been on show at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare until mid-June 2018. More information athttps://www.ppcimaginarium.co.za
