ANNA and Latitudes, two female-centric South African brands, have joined forces to create an new art award. The aim of the award is to discover, recognise and nurture a new generation of women artists in South Africa.

For Juanita Kotzé, Creative Director  of ANNA – Pure Organic Pads and Liners – South Africa’s first locally produced, environmentally friendly sanitary range,  the launch of this award is the next step in ANNA’s mission to embolden and empower women. “ANNA is about liberation, belonging, sustainability and truth, and I can’t think of a better way to share and express this ethos than through the creation and celebration of art.”

Lucy MacGarry, co-founder of Latitudes, the fastest-growing online platform dedicated to art from Africa, explains that the ANNA Award celebrates women artists who show extraordinary originality, imagination and dedication in their creative careers. « The ANNA Award is designed to give space to women’s stories through the medium of visual art, and we’re looking forward to the award becoming an important annual event in the world of contemporary art on the continent,” she adds.

Both ANNA and Latitudes believe the ANNA Award should be  as inclusive as possible. As such, no formal art training is required in order to apply, there are no age restrictions for applicants, and the competition is open to women artists working in any medium. Twelve finalists will be selected, and the submissions will be reviewed by the ANNA selection committee:

Makgati Molebatsi – Arts advisor, Curator and Senior Art Specialist, Aspire Art Auctions
Refiloe Mpakanyane – Weekend breakfast host, 702
Candice Chirwa – menstruation activist, speaker, and academic
Marianne Fassler – Fashion Designer, Leopard Frock
Jo-Ann Strauss – South African model, public speaker and businesswoman
Nina Carew – Curator, Latitudes

The winner will receive a R100,000 cash prize from ANNA, a month residency at Left of the Moon in Franschhoek, South Africa, a profile on Latitudes Online, and a year’s supply of ANNA products. Their winning artwork will be included in the ANNA Awards Collection. What’s more, the twelve finalists will be presented to the Latitudes audience, who will vote for an Audience Award winner.

Applications are open from 2 March until 24 June 2022.

The twelve finalists will be announced in July, and the winner on Women’s Day, 9 August 2022.
Read more at latitudes.online/anna-award, where a link to apply can also be found.

Apply here.

About Latitudes

Latitudes is an online destination to explore and buy contemporary art from Africa. With a constantly changing, curated selection of art from the continent and the diaspora, the site brings together artworks presented by galleries, curators, studios, not-for-profit organisations and independent artists themselves.

The first platform of this kind dedicated to art from Africa, Latitudes is designed to help collectors discover creativity from the continent in a non-intimidating and accessible way. With over 1000 artists represented on the site, Latitudes is well on its way to becoming the largest online destination for art from Africa.

Passionate as the organisation is about identifying and nurturing new talent, Latitudes introduced an Education programme in 2021, through which it has mentored and directly benefited over 80 creatives in South Africa. Latitudes Education is set to expand into the continent in 2022.

latitudes.online
@latitudes.online

About ANNA

ANNA, South Africa’s first locally manufactured, environmentally friendly and organic menstrual product range is taking the lead in creating environmentally friendly sanitary products. The ANNA team believes that women who are conscious of their ecological footprint shouldn’t have to compromise comfort in the process of lowering their environmental impact.
By providing environmentally conscious women with a real alternative to traditional plastic sanitary products, ANNA is empowering women to take ownership of, not only their own physical wellbeing, but the wellbeing of the environment, too.
As a cohesive, global consciousness about the environmental impact of disposable, single-use plastic products are becoming more evident, plastic-free products, such as the ANNA pure organic product range, are starting to take the frontline on the shelves of responsible retailers. The range currently consists of two ground-breaking organic products, ANNA Maxi Pads and ANNA  Liners.
Find ANNA Pure Organic Pads and Liners at the following stockists:
Ackermans. Checkers, DisChem, Faithful to Nature, Natural Options,  Pick ‘n Pay, and selected Spars.

annapureorganic.co.za
@annapureorganic