The future of South African art is looking competitive

I finally got around to seeing the entries of the annual Kinnerkunsfees at Woodlands Boulevard. The competition is open to all pupils from pre-school to grade 12, and entrants can choose their own theme and medium.

It’s quite interesting to see what our youth are getting up to in their art classes nowadays, and the level of talent is exceptionally high. The results of this competition will not be easy to decide! These poor things are also going to face some fierce rivalry amongst each other if they all pursue artistic careers.

Generally, I find that school art tends to portray a fair deal of angst, almost cramming too much meaning into one painting. And it is very serious meaning: drugs, abuse, abortion, crime, and so the list goes on.

There was plenty of that to be found, for sure, but I did find some really fun pieces as well. Dylan Naidoo, a Grade 11 from Crawford College Pretoria, created a large “Starboks” coffee mug, with a checklist of key players on it.

Also feeling crafty, a Grade 11 Crawford College Pretoria classmate, Sean Tucker, fashioned an enormous Absolut Karma bottle, revealing the inevitable effects of over consuming (one hopes he doesn’t know these based on experience).

Another amusing picture on display was a pen sketch of the four facial expressions of a playful boy that was done by a Grade 12 student from Hoerskool Menlopark called Anja Jarling. I’d love to know if the kid in the picture is her little brother or something, since I think it’d have been an adorable tribute.

My favourite piece, however, must be the Coca Cola “Progress” piece done by Mary Song, a Grade 11 that is also from Crawford (I suspect that Crawford might claim the prize due to their great entries). I think ong’s work is so good that Coca Cola should actually run it as an advertisement! Tell me I’m wrong?

Overall, though, there are a lot of really excellent pieces. These kids are so creative, with almost way too much talent between them. I’ll be really curious to know who the judges crown as the winner, since it can’t be an easy task at all!

The artwork will be displayed until 7 October, so you still have time to go and check it out. Your favourites might be very different to mine, so I’d be interested to know what you think.