Building a profile for new artists

This week, Bank Windhoek together with social partner, the National Art Gallery, launched the Bank Windhoek Triennial 2014 to reward excellence in art.
The Triennial is a forum where Namibian artists can be part of an art exhibition that promotes excellence as an essential ingredient. The three-year time gap between successive Triennials, provides an opportunity for artists to learn from the previous experience and to use the interlude to apply new knowledge to prepare prizewinning work for the next event.   The opening and prize-giving ceremony of the next Bank Windhoek Triennial will be held on 5 September 2014 at the National Art Gallery. The date for submitting artworks is 11 July 2014 at the regional centres. “The NAGN is extremely proud to be associated with Bank Windhoek in this important partnership, which was established in 2008. The Bank Windhoek Triennial 2014 will be the 3rd successive event of its kind held at the gallery” said Hercules Viljoen, Director of the National Art Gallery. Art competitions are part and parcel of the competitive professional art world. Winning major awards have presented many artists with a platform to launch successful careers. It should be accepted that some artists, both professional and amateur, do not enjoy participating in “competitions”.  At the basis of this lies the perception that adjudication happens on a subjective or arbitrary level. “However, all participants are assured that the Bank Windhoek Triennial adjudication will be conducted according to established, transparent criteria. In order to provide a longer-lasting learning experience to participating artists and to the public, feedback sessions and discussions will be conducted during the exhibition to analyse and discuss the best work. Artists will also be entitled to request written feedback about rejected work” the organisers said. The Bank Windhoek Triennial is open to all artists with Namibian citizenship, domicile or permanent residence. An artist may submit a maximum of three artworks, not produced earlier than 2012.