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Art South Africa
INFLUENCING SOCIETY THROUGH ART /June 2011
Sasol New Signatures Competition Past Winner Profiles: Amita Makan

Voted Runner-up in the 2009 Sasol New Signatures Competition has extended the footprint of 43-year-old, Amita Makan as a talented artist in South Africa. Makan’s full-time career in art catapulted to new heights since her piece, Loose Ends: A Story about My Mother was exhibited at the Pretoria Art Museum during September 2009.

Sasol New Signatures Competition is one of the longest running and most prestigious art competitions in the country, offering emerging artists a platform to showcase their passion, capability and creativity.

“Being awarded such recognition became a part of my identity, opening up doors and securing great opportunities to further my career and work. This was a boost to my confidence and I am truly grateful,” says Makan.

Makan believes that the recognition she received from Sasol was instrumental in securing her first solo exhibition entitled “Evanescence” at the KZNSA Gallery in Durban in May 2010. In March 2011, she took the same exhibition to the Ron Belling Gallery in her hometown, Port Elizabeth. In July 2010, Makan was approached by the South African National Visual Arts Association (SANAVA) to participate in a group exhibition to be held in India, and was one of only 40 artists selected.

In May this year, her monochromatic oil portrait of Miriam Makeba was purchased by the University of South Africa (UNISA) to be on permanent display in the Dr Miriam Makeba Concert Hall. This work was inspired by the biography, “The Miriam Makeba Story: Miriam Makeba in conversation with Nomsa Mwamuka”. Makan adds that the full series will be exhibited at the UNISA Gallery in October this year as part of the Artist@work exhibition that will be curated by Bongani Mkhonza.

Makan’s work is inspired by her life experiences, her imagination and photography. Her first series, Evanescence emerged from the grieving for her mother who suffered from Alzheimers Disease. The series took three years to complete and sadly, Makan’s mother passed away in 2009, shortly after her being placed runner-up in the Sasol competition.

Makan believes that if you are passionate about making a career out of art, you must have the courage to test oneself by exhibiting your work. She strongly encourages emerging artists to enter the 2011 Sasol New

Signatures Competition. “As an emerging artist myself, I encourage artists to nurture their ideas, persevere and pursue their passion,” she remarks.

South Africa is a vibrant, dynamic, complex and multifarious society. Makan believes that South Africa’s democracy is maturing and this is reflected in the arts. An artist can engage in society by delivering a critical view of social and political issues and by providing people with different lenses with which to view the world.

“Art is universal, transcending boundaries of language, culture, nationality, class, race and gender,” concludes Makan whose combination of painting and embroidery will be talked about for years to come.