At a buzzing event this week with the NSA Gallery packed to capacity, the organisation launched its centenary celebrations with a well-received Members’ Exhibition. The theme for this exhibition is One Hundred Years of ... and members were invited to complete this sentence visually, in whichever way they wanted, and as creatively as possible. The exhibition was opened by Prof Alan Rycroft, president of the NSA Council.

In a tight competition three judges, John Roome (HOD of the Durban Institute of Technology Fine Art Department), Paul Sibisi (well known and respected Durban artist) and Bronwen Vaughn-Evans (a fulltime artist and part time lecturer) awarded three prizes to the best entries on exhibition.

The third prize, R1,000 cash was awarded to One hundred years of Art Postcards by Andries Gouws. His delightful and quirky painting, meticulously and realistically executed, depicts two postcards on a wall, and is framed in a heavy wooden frame.

Second prize of R2,000 in cash was awarded to One Hundred Years Of… by Lara Mellon, a part-time artist based in Durban North. Mellon entered a complex drawing installed as a scroll, which allows the viewer to ‘read’ the drawing as a timeline, starting in 1905 and marked with significant and personally important dates.

The first prize of R3,000 cash as well as the Joan Emmanuel Floating Trophy was awarded to Karen Bradtke, an artist and the director of ArtSpace Durban. Bradtke’s entry consisted of a small work with detailed embroidery surrounding a tiny figure with a black spiral and red text.

The prizes were handed over by David Emmanuel, the grandson of Joan Emmanuel. The Emmanuel family sponsors the cash prizes and the floating trophy in memory of Joan, a great supporter of the NSA during her lifetime.