The MASK Prize. Creativity Competition with Prizes for Young People and Schools in Africa

 

ArtAttack continuously follows current Creative Art Competitions within the Global Art Industry. Our most recent attraction is to The Annual National Creativity Competition in Africa for schools and young people under the age of 25, which is the renowned ‘MASK Prize‘, endorsed by Kenya Ministry Of Education.

The 2016 Mask Prize is an initiative of the Mobile Art School in Kenya that seeks to promote creativity and innovation among the young generation. This is another chance for young artists from Kenya, Africa and its diaspora to show the world what they’ve got. Currently in its 4th year, the MASK Art Prize has been able to award and mentor a myriad of Kenyan and African artists through its competitions and expose them to the global art world. Next year, The MASK Prize will collaborate with Turner Contemporary, which will be very exciting!

This year’s theme is “Young People-The Creative Nation”.

Artworks are submitted online in a variety of media and reflect innovative ideas. All entries were in one of the following forms:

• Paintings, Drawings, Collages, Sculpture, Installations and Prints.
• Graffiti Art.
• Digital/Computer Art.
• Photographs and Photojournalism.
• Singing, Dancing, Performing Arts and Playing Musical Instruments.
• Entrepreneurial/Business Ideas.

Part of why ArtAttack is introducing you to The MASK Prize is due to the 2016 Award Ceremony that takes place this week on the 23^rd of June at the Michael Joseph Art Centre in Nairobi and some selected works will be exhibited in the UK at the Saatchi Gallery, University for the Creative Arts and Turner Contemporary.

For further information and interest in the juding panal, click these links: http://mobileartschoolinkenya.org/mask-prize/index.html http://mobileartschoolinkenya.org/mask-prize/how-to-enter/judges.html

ArtAttack are thrilled to show you the incredibly creative works of the 2016 Winners and Commended Artists.

2016 Mask Prize Winners –

 

1. Churchill Ongere, 23 years old, Untitled

2. Gitahi Kariouki, 21 years old, Embrace

3. Louis Nderi, 25 years old, Family Tree

4. Sidney Wanjiku, 23 years old, Women Power

5. Edwin Lyra, 19 years old, Chorwa

6. John Njeru, 21 years old, Abstract Love

7. Onesmus Omakar, 21 years old, Untitled

8. Edwin Wainanina, 19 years old, From The East Heavens

9. June Wambua, 22 years old, Black Leaf

10. Peteros Wasinde, 19 years old, Heart And Brain

11) Kennedy Kimani , 24 years old, Market and Beyond

12) Claire Njeri Kuria, 15 years old, Karen

2016 Mask Prize Commended –

1. Alan Madegwa, 19 years old, Thoughts

2. Lee Wanjiru, 19 years old, Untitled

3. Steve Wanjau, 22 years old, Untitled

4. Caitano Mbati, 21 years old, El Doret

5. Sam Mulwa, 19 years old, Mother Earth

6. Isaac Muraya, 23 years old, Nairobian Girl

7. Samson Lerosion, 20 years old, Leafy Samburu 

 

8) Bilha Simwenyi, 23 years old, Kakamega

9) Selina Onyando, 19 years old, Chai

 

10) Victor Mutua, 21 years old, Strength of an Eagle

 

11) Alvin Njuguna, 17 years old, Beginning of April

12) Ron Lukes, 21 years old, Devine

13) Joseph Makau, 20 years old, Swampy

14) Kibet Kirui, 22 years old, Ride and Die

15) Viva Mugambi, 20 years old, Old love

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ArtAttack Launch Exhibition Artists Announced!

 

Massive congratulations to the 7 artists officially chosen for the ArtAttack Launch Exhibition from our #HangInChelsea competition.

The artists are:

1. Massimo Agostinelli. American-Italian, but London-born artist, Agostinelli, is known for his ‘Word Play | Text Art’ works which have been exhibited in galleries in London and New York and are held among collections in major cities across 5 continents.

2. Samin Ahmadzadeh. This Iran-born artist and CSM graduate’s background in street       photography is combined with a passion of expressing her personal views on sociological and cultural matters of her country. Her practice continues to evolve with a specific focus on archival collections of her family’s cultural history.

What happens when an Art Student ‘breaks up’ with technology? ArtAttack Interviews Caley Holmboe.

Chelsea College of Arts student, Caley Holmboe, has a flip phone and no Instagram profile. When I fell in love with a sculpture of hers at last year’s 2nd year show, I had to tweet at the Chelsea student union to get her contact information. When Caley receives an email, it comes to her laptop only. When Caley sends a text, she has to use the numbers as letters just like you did on your old Nokia circa 2004.

Her complete lack of online presence in an increasingly digital world, is something that makes Caley stand out immensely, and I wanted to know how and why she made the practically unheard of choice to be almost totally offline.

It turns out that the lifestyle choice started an experiment and a work of art. I like to call it ‘The Unplug Project,’ but the formal name of the piece is ‘I Want to Break Up.’

I had the chance to speak with Caley about this fascinating project, which ended up extending into her daily life. You’ll notice this is a much longer interview than those we normally publish, but I encourage you to read every word as it really is a supremely interesting look into a very non-traditional choice.

‘I want to show society’s excess through a surrealist and dystopian view of what we could become’ – ArtAttack meets Henri Charreau

ArtAttack meets one of London’s most exciting emerging artists, sculptor Henri Charreau. Brought up in Paris, Henri graduated from Chelsea School of Art and is currently doing an MA at Kings College London.

I had the chance to speak with Henri about his artistic practise and current projects.

Attention Artists: The SOLO Award 2016 – Call for entries!

The SOLO Award is an annual contemporary art prize established by WW Gallery in 2012, which recognises independent thinking, going it alone and taking risks.

 

It is open to artists of any age, working in any medium. The winner receives a cash prize (£2,000) and a solo exhibition at the London Art Fair. 2016 sees the prize money doubled and the award open to international artists for the first time.

‘Who says a mathematician can’t be creative?’ ArtAttack interviews ‘Metamorphosis’ co-curators Olivia Bladen & Alice Procter

Last year, for their annual exhibition, the UCL Art Society, put on a fantastic show entitled ‘Escape,’ which left ArtAttack impressed and inspired. So with this year’s show, ‘Metamorphosis,’ just a few days away, we jumped on the opportunity to interview exhibition director’s Olivia Bladen (ArtAttack’s own!) and Alice Procter to gain some insight into the curatorial process and what we can expect from this exciting emerging art exhibition.

ArtAttack: So ‘Metamorphosis’ is the theme for this year’s show. Can you tell me how this idea came about and what it means to you?

Alice Procter: As strange as it sounds… We were eating gnocchi in a park last summer, throwing words at each other in the hope that something would stick. I don’t remember who said Metamorphosis first, but it just made so much sense. We wanted something open, that anyone could look at and say, ‘okay, how can I relate this to my work?’, because every artist is always making a change or transforming something. It felt like a way of encouraging our members to step back and look at the process behind their work.

Olivia Bladen: We went through a long list of words it could be! Previous exhibitions had names such as Alchemy and Escape, and we wanted to keep the theme true to those vibes; something that was open enough to be accessible to anyone, but would still provide direction. As the curators, it helps to have a unifying aspect, obviously. But as Alice said, the process of change is inherently an artistic one, so none of the submissions felt really out of place.

‘A big goal would to be able to create a change in the diversity and representations of race in fashion imagery.’ – ArtAttack meets Jazz Rakkar.

ArtAttack have had the privilege of recently meeting Nottingham Trent arts graduate, Jazz Rakkar. This young photographer specialises in fashion, beauty and commercial imagery. Jazz’s approach to photography commonly has themes surrounding form, the pose and classic photography styles. During his time at university, he also explored and researched themes regarding race and identity in fashion. Having studied with Jazz myself, I have had first hand experience watching his passion and talent develop.

I have had the chance to ask Jazz some personal questions about his photography for everyone to gain an insight into his process.

‘If you have the talent then it will happen’ – ArtAttack meets Tal Booker

Tal Booker is a digital artist from London who has been exploring various areas of graphic design including fashion design, corporate design and logo design. More recently, Tal has become focused on his digital art which involves the formation of unique and sometimes witty digital prints.

I had the chance to speak to Tal about his work and the state of London’s emerging art scene.

ArtAttack Interviews Korean artist, Kyung Hwa Shon

After being drawn in by her work at the London Art Fair back in January, ArtAttack had the chance to speak with Korean artist, Kyung Hwa Shon, about her work, inspirations and advice for young artists just starting out.

‘The City of Fragments’, Kyung Hwa Shon, Silkscreen on paper, 2015