Below is a list of the artists to have received the prize since inception.
2024 WINNERS.
2024 BLESSING NGOBENI ART PRIZE WINNER. KEABETSWE SEEMA
Keabetswe Seema (b. 1999) is a Johannesburg based visual artist who obtained a BA Fine Arts degree from the University of Pretoria. Keabetswe’s practice revolves around the politics of the body and identity, exploring themes of afro-futurism, non-monolithic selfhood, family archives, spirituality, and the hyper visible body.
“My works welcome its audience into an alternative universe where playful experimentation meets thought-provoking social commentary, it invites you to journey with me through mystery, absurdity and brilliance that seamlessly blends African futures and the profound. I intend to fuse found stories both familiar and unfamiliar to me and create whimsical spaces that present both the complexities of black female figuration with dreams and confrontation.”- Keabetswe Seemahold.
2024 DALRO VISUAL ARTS MERIT AWARD. TSHEPO BOPAPE
Tshepo Bopape (b. 1993) is a Multidisciplinary artist, currently living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. Born in Soweto and raised in Lenasia South, Bopape has lived, studied and worked in Johannesburg almost all his life. Bopape's education includes a complete foundation course in photography at the Market Photo Workshop, Newtown Johannesburg in 2014, and a Bachelor of Arts on Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he continues to study till present.
Bopape is a well versed artist, specifically in the fields of drawing and painting. His work engages and communicates themes related to Spirituality, Mythology, belief and dreams.He has built up a sizable portfolio of works between the period of 2020 till present.
“My work is inspired by artists who have contributed to the unique visual culture of Africa. The Generation of artists such as Helen Sebidi, Dr David Koloane, Lefifi Tladi and Malangatana Ngwena have contributed to the medium of expression, themes and methods of depiction that are found in my work. This inspiration continues to be found in the contemporary works of artists such as Blessing Ngobeni, Simphiwe Ndzube, Neo Mathloga and Dada Khanyisa” - Tshepo Bopape.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2023. TSHEPO PHOKOJOE
Tshepo Sizwe Phokojoe (b. 1995, Soweto) is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, with a background in visual arts and fashion. Phokojoe was part of the 2017 Peer mentoring at Assemblage Studios mentored by Brownyn Lace. He has also worked as studio assistant to Nkhensani Rihlampfu and Nicholas Hlobo. Phokojoe has received numerous awards, including the 2017 PPC Imaginarium Merit Award for Fashion, the 2023 Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize and he is the 2023 recipient of Young/Unframed. He currently works and lives in Johannesburg. Exploring the ideas of home, nest, and womb through hessian cloth, the exhibition titled "Woven Comforts" aims to evoke a strong emotional connection and nostalgia. By using hessian cloth as a medium, the show invites visitors to reflect on their inherent human desires for comfort, safety, and belonging. The use of hessian cloth as a canvas allows for these profound concepts to come alive. Intricately woven hessian structures represent the idea of a 'nest', symbolizing the care and warmth associated with creating a haven for oneself and loved ones. Additionally, these structures transport us to marvel at the intricate architectural wonders found in nature. Furthermore, the concept of a 'womb' is delicately portrayed through a human figure covered in hessian cloth. This representation symbolizes the primal source of life, security, and growth. It also prompts contemplation about the origins of life, the sanctuary provided by maternal love, and the endless potential that new beginnings hold.
2022. BOITUMELO MOTAU
Boitumelo Motau, a multidisciplinary artist b.1995.lives and works in Johannesburg. He has completed his B.A fine art degree at the University of the Witwatersrand(2014-2018). His practice incorporates installation, video, drawing and Photography to further investigate his interest in history and collective memory.
Inserted bodies is a project looking and working closely with the living and inherited history of Johannesburg. When I speak about history I am specifically speaking about the stories of the people that migrated to Johannesburg, looking all the way back to the gold rush to black men and women forced to leave their families to work in Johannesburg as miners and domestic workers and in recent years where a diverse group and Africans have migrated to Johannesburg seeking better opportunities.
2021. BRIAN MONTSHIWA
Montshiwa Brian is a Johannesburg based interdisciplinary artist, choreographer and performer. They are known for their beyond the line drawing practice that depends on the cross-fertilisation between mediums – through performance art, video art, text paintings, printmaking, installation and drawing. Brian’s work engages self-writing, fugitive praxis and content identity politics. Their process looks into gesture, repetitive labour, a ect and performativity to redress invisibility but not limited to. It seek more nuanced grammar for presenting overlooked and erased narratives, including their own. Brian use unlinked metaphors to introduce a uidity in how histories are disseminated They are a recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including the Anya Millman Scholarship for Outstanding Work in Fine Arts (2022); and the Blessing Ngobeni Prize (2021). Their exhibition listing is impressive, with solo exhibitions including A different kind of inheritance and a different kind of inhabitance (2021), Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg; and Suna Lebota, durational performance (2021), Church Project Art Space, Cape Town. Group exhibitions include Senses (2023),Goethe Institut, Johannesburg, Abadali (2023); Re ections (2023), Bag Factory Studios; FNB Joburg Art Fair (2022); At Odds (2022), Turbine Art Fair. They have also participated in the Bag Factory Residency (2022-2023); as well as the Abadali JP Morgan Mentorship Programme (2022). Montshiwa attended Bokamoso Secondary School were they measured in Dramatic Arts with distinction, Visual Arts and Design Arts. Received their Honours Degree in Bachelors of Arts in Fine Arts with distinctions from the University of Witwatersrand.
2020. ABONGILE SIDZUMO
Abongile Sidzumo (b.1996) lives and works in Cape Town. In 2013, at the age of 17, he won the Shoprite Checkers Strokes of Genius Art Competition in the painting category, receiving a contribution towards furthering his art studies, as well as a contribution towards the development of his school’s art programmes. Sidzumo completed his degree in Fine Art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2019 and received the Simon Gerson prize for excellence upon graduation, joining the likes of Bronwyn Katz, Dada Khanyisa, Ed Young and Alexandra Karakashian. During his final year at Michaelis in 2019, he participated in the student-run group show, MICROPORE, and, the following year, his work was featured in We’ve come to take you home #1, an exhibition of recently acquired artworks by the University of Cape Town and curated by Amogelang Maledu.
2019. MELODY PHENYO
Phenyo Melody Madiba, better known as 'Mel Madiba', born in October 1993, in Mafikeng and grew up in Pretoria. She now lives and works intermittently between Pretoria and Johannesburg. When she finished High School, having taken Design as a subject, she went to study Interior Design at The Design School of Southern Africa. It was there where she fell in love with wood and discovered pyrography, which is the art of drawing on wood, leather, or other materials using a soldering iron. It is through this art form that she began creating works that seek to explore various aspects of who she is. Madiba taps into the inner workings of her mind to conceive work that is rooted in femininity, consciousness, and the full expression of oneself. She portrays an array of emotions from a black woman's lens. Her chosen subject matter is predominantly black women at different stages of their growth. She envisions a world where black beauty can be fully expressed and appreciated without the need for it to be substantiated. The artist uses expressive markings by fire, gold, and African bronze-blue to illustrate that black women are naturally divine. She has been influenced by artists like Zanele Muholi, Lina Iris Viktor, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and Donald Nxumalo by their creative approaches in their respective practices. Her career officially launched in 2019 after being dubbed a Design Indaba Emerging Creative, appearing on the TV show Hashtags Africa, and winning the Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize. Madiba's work has evolved through personal experiences, and she strives to improve her craft even further.
2018. SIMPHIWE BUTHELEZI
Simphiwe Buthelezi was born in 1996 in Benoni, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2016, Simphiwe Buthelezi participated in a peer mentoring programme hosted by Assemblage Studios which launched her development as a young artist. She received her National Diploma in Fine Art at the University of Johannesburg in 2017, and she is the recipient of the 2018 Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize, culminating in a residency at The Bag Factory Artist Studios.
2017. TENDAI MUPITA
Sarungaso Wemeso (Tendai Mupita) was born in 1990 in Harare, Zimbabwe, and graduated from Chinhoyi University of Technology in 2015. In 2017 he received The Blessing Ngobeni residency award at the Bag Factory in Johannesburg, South Africa, and in 2019 he was a participant in the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, USA. Sarungano has been included in numerous exhibitions in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Italy, London, USA, and South Africa. He graduated with a MFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA (2023). Sarungano’s solo exhibition in Rome was titled”Kuedza mudzimu nesengere” (2020) was featured in the Artforum magazine, September issue. In 2019 he participated in the Zimbabwe Cultural Center of Detroit, an artist exchange residency program that culminated in a symposium at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, USA.
