 |  | |  | | Absa’s sponsorships are broad and far reaching. We sponsor South Africa’s much loved national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, the Springbok rugby team and the oldest regional rugby rivalry in the world, the Absa Currie Cup. Absa plays a pivotal role in keeping arts and culture alive, by sponsoring festivals like Aardklop, Absa KKNK, Design Indaba, various theatre productions, and the television programme, Noot vir Noot. We proudly claim the largest corporate art collection in the country, featuring over 20 000 artworks (all by local artists); and host Absa L’Atelier, South Africa’s longest running art competition. Absa received a gold, three silvers and a bronze award at the 2008 Marketing Excellence Awards. This was in recognition of the benefits of its sponsorship initiatives. | | | |  |  | |  | | | |  | Absa L'Atelier Art Competition | |  |  | | Absa is the only financial services institution in the world that has actively embraced art as part of its corporate image. The bank has proven itself to be not only the biggest corporate patron of the visual arts in South Africa, but is also the custodian of the largest South African corporate art collection.
The art is not hidden in a vault somewhere! Absa’s foyers, offices and branches are proudly adorned with the best the country has to offer in the visual arts. It’s there for all to appreciate and enjoy. In fact, Absa has been referred to in the media as ‘the bank inside an art gallery!”
Absa Art Curator Cecile Loedolff says: “In the traditionally left brain environment of banking, our art has a subtle function to stimulate the right brain into creative action. Furthermore, art is our common language as a human race. It speaks where words fail. And it’s a language that transcends time. Our visual art in particular will continue to tell our story long after we are no longer here.”
| | | | | Every year we host Absa L’Atelier – South Africa’s most prestigious art competition – ensuring South Africa’s emerging artists receive recognition and the opportunity to develop their talents abroad. This competition is held annually for artists between the ages of 21 and 35. For the 2011 Absa L'Atelier Art competition entries must be submitted between the 1 and 4 March 2011. Eleven prizes will be awarded: | | | | » | The Absa L'Atelier winner will receive R 110 000 in total from Absa, as well as a return air ticket to Paris, France. | | | The prize money is used to further their studies while living in a studio apartment purchased for this purpose at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. | | » | Four additional merit prizes of R 25 000 each will be awarded. | | » | The top ten finalists will receive R 2 000 each. | | » | Gerard Sekoto Award : The Alliance Française, The French Institute and the French. | | » | Embassy sponsor the Gerard Sekoto Award for the most promising artist with an income of less than R 60 000. The prize includes a return air ticket to Paris, 3 months’ stay in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, nationwide touring exhibitions, training in French and commission for a poster for the exhibition. | | | | Visit the official Absa L'Atelier website | | | |  - L'Atelier Entry Form English | | - L'Atelier Entry Form Afrikaans | |  | | | | | | |
