OT Africa Line Angola's Container Painting Competiton 2005 - Comes to Europe !

This year, we join together as art lovers and patrons to celebrate the talent of emerging visual artists in Angola

The Competition

Held in March 2005 in Luanda, the 'Angolan Painting Competition', sponsored by OT Africa Line [OTAL], is a tribute to Angola's artistic talent. Angolan national artists were approached to enter a small draft painting that would, if chosen, be enlarged and copied onto a container and then exhibited in major ports around Europe.

There was an overwhelming response to the competition, where we received entries from the very best artists who enthusiastically participated. We were extremely pleased with the high quality of work submitted.

A regional jury panel comprised of highly esteemed members of the arts community from both Angola and France chose six semi-finalists from the numerous entries received. Those chosen painted their designs onto the side of a 20TEU container and a final winner was selected receiving a US$5,000 award.

Investing in the arts in West Africa has been a long-standing priority at OTAL. From photography to public learning, our support focuses on activities that contribute to the cultural fabric of communities, recognising the vital role the arts play in enriching people's lives.

On behalf of everyone here at OTAL a well deserved congratulations is extended to all of our Award winners and participants. We thank them for their dedication to the upholding of African artisitic traditions and wish them continued success in all their artisitic endeavours.

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The Judges

Our esteemed judges included local art experts as well as representatives from the Angolan Ministry of Culture. The judges expressed that their final decison had infact been a difficult one due to the exceptional quality of the artist's work. The panel of judges for this competition was comprised of :

Carla Leitão - OTAL Commercial Manager
Bernard de Buor - Director of SDV-AMI
Filomeno de Silva - Representative for the merchant marine and ports
Fátim Fonseca - Representative of the Ministry of Culture
Marcela Costa - Angolan Artist
Santos Nunes - Head of the local authority area
Sylvie Fontaine - French Associtation of Angola



"The six finalists receiving their prestigous awards at a cocktail party held at the Meridian Hotel attended by Angolan national press and television"

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The Winner

Ventura
The youngest entrant in the competition was Manuel José Ventura ( known as Ventura ) born in 1981 he is only 24 years of age. Ventura studied at the School of Arts, Media and Painting - a specialist school of art in Angola. He is a member of 'Da Brigada de Jovens Artista Plásicos' - BJAP - a national art institution that promotes national artists. Ventura also attends a workshop given by a famous Angolan artist known as 'Gonga' where he practices sculpture and painting.

Ventura was presented with a cash prize of US$5000 [equivalent to 2 years local salary] at a cocktail reception attended by the Angolan national press and television.



"OTAL celebrates the exceptional skill of Angolan up-and-coming visual artists and we take great pleasure in assisting the start of what we feel will be a very promising career"

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The Finalists

Kenga
Born in Avelino, Kenga works as a painter, sculpture and batik artist. He has a diploma from the Lubumbashi and Kinshasa academies in the DRC. He has won several competitions , made numerous exhibitions and has been published in some national publications in Angola.



"OT Africa Line's Painting Competition provides a forum to engage communities across the country"


Bany
Sermio Moisés Massa Bany is 38 years old and was born in North Luanda. He studied in DRC and is licensed in painting and arts. He has won the CICIBA painting Kinshasa in 1980.



"The competition promotes the entry of Angolan artists into the European arts community. "


Cabenda
Born in Angola in 1974, Marco Aurelio Fernandes Cabenda studied painting at the Institute of Arts Painting and Culture. In 1998 he went to study graphic design at the Mindrand University in South Africa and in 2003 attended the Arco [ Center of Arts & Visual Communication ] in Portugal. He has also been presented several prizes in 1996/1998/2004 at the national ENSA ARTE-Pinture competition held anually by the ENSA security company.



"Through the competition, we can encourage and nurture creative potential. "


Kabudi Ely
Manuel Gaspar Kabudi Ely was born in South Kwanza in September 1972. He is a professional in painting, art, design, publishing and marketing. He has been a painter for 15 years and has participated in various collective exhibitions in Angola selling several paintings in Portugal, France, Germany, the UK and Angola. Currently he is working as a freelancer.



"The ongoing vitality of a thriving and innovative arts community is in our long term business interest and in the interest of a healthy and prosperous country"


Van
Francisco Domingos Van-Dúnem was born in Bengo in 1959, Van is a renowned artist in Angola. He teaches art at both Secondary and University level. He has been a painter and artist since 1977. He undertook a painting course in Havana, Cuba in 1981 and is licensed to teach visual education and technology which he studies in Portugal. He completed a master's degree in educational art at the University of Surrey Roehampton, London. He has held 12 exhibitions at various premier national and international venues and has presented work to the Ministry of Culture.



"As one of West Africa's premier shipping companies, we believe in using our resources to make a positive contribution to society"

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Exhibitions & Roadshows

All three containers are currently on an exhibitional tour to the major ports in Europe. The artwork has already been displayed in both Porto and Lisbon in Portugal, Antwerp in Belgium and Hamburg in Germany. The finale will be a reception co-hosted with the Angolan embassy in Paris.



"After an eight hour tour around Luanda city the containers are loaded onto one MV Luanda sailing some 4000 nautical miles to Leixoes in Portugal."



"The containers were offloaded at the port of Leixoes and displayed at a customer event within the port. The next morning they were loaded onto trucks and transported 300kms to Lisbon. OTAL hosted a cocktail reception overlooking the vast estuary of the River Tagus held in Lisbon Port Authority's [APL] beautiful art deco offices."



" Onward to Belgium, the containers were trucked a further 2000kmand exhibited at our local agency offices, Asmar Nv in Antwerp."

" The boxes then travelled another 500km to the Hanseatic port of Hamburg where they were the highlight of a customer function at the Museum de Arbeit. "

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