Paris stay for talented Mthatha sculptor

Mthatha-born fine artist Philiswa Lila is to spend three months at a top French studio after winning the Gerard Sekoto Award recently.

Lila won the award for her imaginative sculpture, Self-Titled.

The 30-year-old described her creation as part of a series of other sculptures.

The award is given annually to a talented emerging artist from South Africa through the Absa L’Atelier Art competition.

It is supported by the French Institute of South Africa, the French embassy in South Africa and the Alliance Française network of South Africa.

It is only available to a South African artist who has previously entered the L’Atelier Awards and who has demonstrated continual improvement in their art-making.

Lila said spreading a message of hope and healing through her art is what keeps her motivated to produce quality artwork.

Her work is inspired by her name, Philiswa, which means to “be healed” in isiXhosa.

She said art had long been her way of escaping the harsh realities of life, and it was through art that she was able to spread her message of healing and hope.

Self-Titled is part of a series that she calls Self-Portraits.

“The series relates to my name Philiswa, meaning be healed,” she said.

“I use this name to explore the nuances of language, meaning and experiences of individualism.

“A name of a person carries with it many different narratives in relation to their surroundings.

“Self-Portraits is an ongoing project about individual experiences as recognisable or familiar to collective frameworks of culture – mainly amaXhosa, but I’m also aware of the interconnectedness of other cultures in South Africa.”

Lila will spend three months in Paris next year.

Not only is there the residency at the Cité Internationale des Art in Paris, but she will also go on an exhibition tour around the Alliance Française network of South Africa.

French lessons through the Alliance Française will commence in April next year.

She said she was honoured and humbled to have her name associated with the great South African artist Gerard Sekoto.

“It is such a great honour to received the Gerard Sekoto Award.

“Being associated with such a prestigious name in the arts is really humbling.

“This is an indication that I am headed in the right direction,” Lila said.

The overall Absa L’Atelier Award winner was Marguerite Kirsten of Cape Town for her installation Embodiment.

The arts competition is jointly sponsored by the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (Sanava) and Absa bank.

Sanava president Avitha Sooful said: “The L’Atelier Awards embrace emerging artists from our continent.

“This competition has become the voice and lens through which we experience and access various societies, and it has rendered the borders between our country and the rest of Africa more porous.”