Bank Windhoek Doek Awards announces judges and commissioned artists

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Bank Windhoek has announced its line-up of judges and commissioned artists as the judging panel for its inaugural Doek Literary Awards, set for November this year.

Doek, consisting of the Doek Arts Trust and Doek Arts CC, is an independent and donor-funded arts organisation focusing on the literary arts in Namibia and having contributed to Doek’s success and publications, the judges will be responsible for the adjudication process while the commissioned artists will ensure the Award’s international standards and creativity.

They include Beauty Boois, Colette Kandemiri, Bruni Lubbe, and Shawn Van Eeden as the judging panel and Romeo Sinkala and Attila Giersch, as its commissioned artists.

Bank Windhoek in a media statement recently said the awards, which is the first of its kind in Namibia, seek to bring a wider Namibian and international audience to the selected works, writers, poets, and visual artists by fostering an active, engaged, critical, and robust literary community.

It biennially honors the finest work by four Namibian contributors published in any issue of Doek Magazine.

The prize organizers, the statement reads, will announce the trophy concept and design by the commissioned artists on August 02, followed by a shortlist selected by the judges on 01 September.

Meanwhile, the bank’s Corporate Communications Officer, Samuel Linyondi in an interview with Nampa said the Doek organization seeks to build a locally adapted, socially responsible, and transparent model for arts funding in Namibia.

Its current projects include publishing Doek! Literary Magazine and facilitating creative workshops focusing on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art, he said.

Linyondi noted that all longlisted, shortlisted, and winning literary artists are provided with unique opportunities within their particular creation fields.

“Such perquisites may include book prizes, further publication in select anthologies, offers of representation, appearances at literary festivals, participation in creative workshops, access to mentorship programs, exhibitions in local, national, and international galleries, and art residencies in Namibia and abroad,” he concluded.

The winners will receive a cash award of N. dollars 5000 and extensive professional support for their careers from the organization.

Source: Namibia Press Agency