Thabong-born artist, Nkoali Nawa, has once again been recognised for his superb work.
Nawa has been invited to attend the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, to be held at Somerset House, London.
This event will be hosted by 1-54 Londen, in partnership with Nando’s UK, from 13 to 16 October.
Nawa has been affiliated with the Spier Art Trust and Nando’s for almost 15 years.
Returning as a Bronze Sponsor for 1-54 London 2022, Nando’s will present work for sale by two Southern African artists: Nawa and Adolf Tafadzwa Tega.
Nando’s was founded in Johannesburg in 1987 and its restaurants house one of the largest publicly displayed bodies of contemporary Southern African art in the world, with more than 8 000 pieces in the United Kingdom alone.
Nando’s patronage of contemporary Southern African art enables both career development opportunities for artists, and the curation of Nando’s body of work.
By allowing artists to focus full-time on their artistic pursuits with the potential to earn a regular income, Nando’s is making a difference in people’s lives while growing their body of high quality Southern African contemporary art.
The Spier Arts Trust is responsible for administering programmes that create career opportunities for professional artists, thereby facilitating successful careers.
The body of work created for this acclaimed international art fair was inspired or influenced by various gatherings held by people in their communities.
Nawa is known and revered in his local community where he was an art teacher and mentor for many years.
This acclaimed artist initially worked in the mines. He holds a national diploma in fine arts and an undergraduate academic degree from the then Technicon Free State, now referred to as the Central University of Technology (CUT).
In 2002 he was a visiting artist at the Bag Factory, Johannesburg, and at the Greatmore Art Studios, Woodstock. In 2003, he was a national finalist in the Brett Kebble Awards in Cape Town.
Between 1996 and 2003, Nawa lectured and taught art throughout South Africa.
The four pieces Nawa will be entering are: A Celebration, The Elders’ Choice (Injoli), Women’s Conversation and Reminiscing. All four are charcoal drawings on 70cm x 100cm Fabriano paper.
