2019 PPC IMAGINARIUM AWARDS Sonwabiso Ngcai wins top accolade www.ppcimaginarium.co.za
TOP ACCOLADE Winner: “Isigu” by Sonwabiso Ngcai
An artwork probing religious cults wins emerging Eastern Cape artist Sonwabiso Ngcai the top accolade in the 2019 PPC Imaginarium Awards. At a gala event held at UJ Gallery on 11 April 2019, emerging Eastern Cape artist Sonwabiso Ngcai was announced as overall winner of 2019 PPC Imaginarium Awards, taking home R150 000 in cash for his sculpture entitled Isigu, or The Snare. A BASA Awardwinning programme, the PPC Imaginarium Awards is the country’s most supportive art and design competition with over half-amillion Rand in prizes awarded across six categories – Sculpture, Industrial Design, Film, Fashion, Jewellery and Architecture – to standout entries that express innovation using PPC cement.
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Ngcai secured both the Sculpture Category prize and the Overall Winner ranking for a thought-provoking entry, which provides an analogy for how certain religious cults are ensnaring their congregants. According to the artist’s personal views on the subject matter: “an isigu, in traditional African society, is a contraption used by young boys to hunt birds. It consists of a downward-facing bowl, with one side held open by an upright stick that has a string tied to it, with a few pieces of grain scattered underneath the bowl. Lured by the promise of food, a bird enters the area - the string is tugged, and the bird is captured. In this piece, the use of this simple but effective hunting tool is an analogy for the entrapment of people by religious cults.”
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