Bloemfontein Sculptor Miné Kleynhans Wins 2024 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition

Bloemfontein Sculptor Miné Kleynhans Wins 2024 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. Miné Kleynhans (34), a project manager at the University of the Free State Art Gallery, has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition for her installation piece titled Meditations on Resentment. Kleynhans takes home a cash prize of R100 000 and an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2025.

Meditations on Resentment imagines an intimate personal ritual that sanctions the experience and expression of resentment. This interactive work invites viewers to engage in a ritual with this secret and suppressed emotion by imaginatively and temporarily lifting the constraints that typically govern how resentment is managed. When encountering the artwork, participants are presented with the shiny, indented surface of the work, a brush with a sharpened end, and a bowl of sand.

The ritual tasks participants to kneel in front of the work and pour the sand onto the indented surface. They are then to write their resentments in the sand with the sharpened end of the brush, before sweeping the sand away and out of the closest cavity until the sharp, hard kernel of a brass thorn is revealed. The Sasol New Signatures Art Competition set new records in 2024, affirming its crucial role in South Africa’s visual arts landscape. This year, an unprecedented 1013 submissions were received from across South Africa, with 137 outstanding works making it to the final exhibition.

“Over the years, the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition has become a rich tapestry of our collective history, stories, and voices. Once again, this exhibition presents a wide spectrum of narratives that provoke a myriad of thoughts and reactions. Yet, all these works originate from a shared creative spirit that reflects our identity as a nation and as individuals. We are grateful to all the artists who entrusted us with their stories and support the competition with unyielding enthusiasm,” said Elton Fortuin, Sasol Vice President: Group Communications and Brand Management.

Pfunzo Sidogi, Chairperson of the Sasol New Signatures Competition, said: “In the five years I have served as the competition’s chair, this year’s final judging round was probably the toughest we’ve facilitated thus far. Among other things, words like ‘subtly compelling,’ ‘poignant,’ ‘technically virtuosic,’ ‘majestic work,’ ‘wonderful technique,’ and ‘carefully modelled’ were used by the judges to describe the nature of the artworks in the winner’s circle. This anecdote of how five judges, coming from totally distinct positionalities and experiences, can find consensus in determining the characteristics of the winning artworks shows how art can transcend cultural, racial, linguistic, and personal differences.”

For 34 years, Sasol has been the proud sponsor of the New Signatures competition, which was established by the Association of Arts Pretoria in the late 1960s. “Sasol is privileged to be part of an initiative that amplifies the voices of our emerging artists, offering them a platform to share their stories with a wider audience, while inspiring us on our journey to remain a force for social good and continue innovating for a better world. We congratulate all the winners of the 2024 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition, as well as those whose works were selected for this exhibition. We wish them a future filled with success and artistic fulfilment. I would also like to thank the Association of Arts Pretoria for their unwavering dedication and hard work, as well as our partners – the City of Tshwane, the Pretoria Art Museum, and Stuttaford Van Lines – for their steadfast and loyal support. Together, we continue to champion the vibrant artistic talent that defines our nation,” added Fortuin.

Tandabantu Nathaniel Jongikhaya Matola (28), a Fine Arts student at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape, was crowned runner-up and awarded R25 000 for his work titled Ukuncikelela (to hold on/endure). Black South African communities, especially in impoverished rural villages, are often forced to keep domestic items longer than they wish.

The idea for this artwork came when the artist noticed that the dishcloth at his home was in a bad state. As an artist, this prompted Matola to collect dishcloths from his village in exchange for new ones. Clay and underglaze are used to depict the homes Matola visited, combining these with the dishcloth he obtained from that home.

The weaving of clay and cloth symbolises ukuncikelela, which means ‘to hold on’ in isiXhosa. PVA glue is used to hold the cloths in shape while also reinforcing the ukungcola (dirtiness) from the overuse of the cloth.The five Merit Award winners receive R10 000 each, and they are (in alphabetical order):

• Henrico Paul Greyling (23)Pretoria Through here a flower passed Steel
• Snelihle Asanda Maphumulo (22)Gqeberha Umnikelo Mixed media
• Themba Mkhangeli (29) Cape Town Ubushushu Bekhaya (The warmth of home)vBallpoint pen on paper
• Bonginkosi Liyo Mkhatshwa (28)Johannesburg Traditional innovation (Unity & Innovative water carrier) Mixed media
• Juandré van Eck (24)Gqeberha Waters of life Ceramics

“Artists are using their creativity to respond to, reflect on, and make artistic sense of the complexities of our world today. Many of the difficult personal and social stories represented in the artworks have been treated with a sensitivity that can be read as an aesthetic of Ubuntu. This year’s exhibition is dominated by works that not only question the family, social, political, and economic order but also restore the human element. This is the magic of the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. It is a platform where emerging artists from across the country can contribute their unique creative visions of the world that ultimately bring people together,” continued Sidogi.