Meet the 2024 Top 12 ANNA Award Finalists!

Ethel Aanyu is a Ugandan photographer living and working in Kampala, Uganda. In 2018 she completed a BA in Industrial and Fine Arts from Makerere University. In 2020 she presented her work in the Kampala Art Biennale as an apprentice Andrew Tshabangu’s studio.

In her work she employs digital layering techniques of positive and negative black and white images and coloured inverted images. Mainly using herself as a model and other people too, she stages scenes that portray visual self-reflections.

Aanyu’s creative process begins with a question that arises or that she intentionally calls to her mind. She describes that what we see in her work is similar to talking to oneself, mentally conversing, in various ways, sometimes in form of a heated dispute, other times as a gentle conversation. The negative and positive layers in the photographs each represent one of the conversing parties.

There is no final answer presented to the questions she asks. Rather, the artist is carving a space in which one doesn't have to be one or the other – a space in-between within which one can nd comfort and calmness amidst tension, ambiguity and hybridity.

The performative process creates a space for her own self-reflection and growth, providing moments of unapologetically being herself, being inquisitive without having to present solutions. I am behind and in front of the camera, Aanyu says, Being that person is a fulfilment to me. I feel more attached to the image, because it is me. I am being myself.

“Being an ANNA Award finalist is a profound honor that recognizes the dedication and passion behind my work. It signifies not only personal achievement but also the validation of my artistic voice and the stories I strive to tell through my photography. This recognition fuels my commitment to continue exploring and expressing the human condition through my art.” - Ethel Aanyu

Isabella Maake is a contemporary visual artist from South Africa, where her love for creating blossomed. Living with profound hearing loss from a young age, she has used art as a medium of expression and dreamed of becoming a full-time artist.

After completing her undergraduate degree in Graphic Design, she went on to work as a graphic journalist for Media24, where she won several Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards, including Upcoming/Rising Star of the Year in 2017 and Graphic Journalist of the Year in 2020.

Maake's art is deeply personal and explores themes of identity, dualism, and vulnerability– mostly depicted through portraiture and figurative art. As an artist who is deaf, she draws inspiration from the conceptual state of ‘in-betweenness’ and the possibilities that can exist between two contradictory things such as, black and white; past and present; hearing and deaf; and so on.

Her subjects are usually people, as she believes each person contains an entire universe and is fascinated by the stories that lie within. As a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in paint, Isabella is driven by the desire to push the boundaries of traditional art forms by experimenting with different mediums and techniques which include painting, photography, sculpture, and interactive sound installations. She hopes to spotlight the beauty of human complexity and the interconnections we can forge despite perceived barriers.

Maake's artworks have been exhibited in group exhibitions at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, and in her hometown of Polokwane, South Africa. In 2023, she was selected as a recipient of the prestigious Chevening leadership scholarship and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Fine Art in Oxford, England.

“Being an ANNA award finalist is both a dream come true and an honour. As an artist who is deaf, this recognition goes beyond my art– it's a testament to the power of diverse voices in shaping not only South Africa's but Africa’s artistic and cultural landscape. The ANNA award amplifies the importance of inclusivity in the arts, echoing my journey of exploring the forging of connections despite perceived barriers.”

Jana Visser is a textile artist and handweaver originally from Stellenbosch, South Africa. In 2019 she completed  her Bachelor studies in Fine Art at Stellenbosch University. In 2021 she obtained a Bachelor’s Diploma in Textile  Design from LUCA School of Arts in Ghent, Belgium. In the following year she completed her Master’s in Textile  Design also at LUCA School of Arts for which she received a Magna Cum Laude. Her master's thesis titled, "an  emptiness that breathes" was nominated for a Thesis Prize as well as the prestigious Dirk Lauwaert Award. 

Her work has been exhibited in multiple galleries and institutions in both South Africa and Belgium, including the  Design Museum in Ghent, and forms part of private collections in South Africa, Belgium, France and Germany.  Recent exhibitions include Verweven/Entrelacés at Schönfeld Gallery, Zomer Salon at Kunsthal Ghent, and I try to  imagine how your texture felt like at St. Peter’s Church of Ypres. In October 2022, some of her textile works were  on display during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Her work titled “in the almost” was  shortlisted for the LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize of 2023. In May 2024, Visser had her first solo exhibition titled,  Breathing Matter, at Queens Brussels Gallery in Brussels, Belgium.  

Captivated by weaving as both an art-making method and its conceptual capabilities, Visser seeks a logic of  reciprocity and becoming through the framework of her weaving practice. Grounding her practice in an openness  to uncertainty, she navigates between controlling method and media, whilst considering relationships between  matter, time and space. She views this as a source of meaning-making, and a means to explore the viability of sensory perception and embodied experience. Her methods are slow – requiring patience and time in order to  grasp both their material and symbolic potency. There is a desire to know more about the self, the value of rhythm  and gesture, and how thread may serve as a conduit for accessing a dimension beyond the tangible. Her interest  lies in the relation between weaving, breathing and thinking. The inwards-outwards passage of breath provides a  symbolic reflection on weaving gestures, which also depend on constant rhythms and the entanglement of  seemingly binary forces; the outwards giving horizontal weft and the inwards receiving vertical warp.

“As one of 12 finalists for the ANNA Award of 2024, I am grateful for this platform to promote my own tactile vernacular as a South African female textile artist. The ANNA Award serves as an opportunity to solidify my developing weaving practice, and to facilitate a creative flow by providing a necessary space for deepening my applied research into weaving as a method of making and thinking.”

In my artistic journey, I delve into the profound realms of sisterhood, women's empowerment, and the divine feminine. Shaped by the nurturing bonds within my predominantly female family, my work aims to illuminate the varied roles of women and address the challenges they navigate. Each creation is a testament to my idealistic vision of societal development, capturing the essence of unity and strength inherent in sisterhood.

Empowerment, a recurring theme, resonates through my art, advocating for the elevation of women in all facets of life. The divine feminine, a source of inspiration, lends a spiritual and transcendent dimension to my work, celebrating the inherent grace and power within every woman. Through diverse mediums, my art mirrors the dynamic interplay of surroundings, personal experiences, and an ever-evolving imagination.

As I navigate this continuous learning journey as an emerging artist, my central goal remains to educate, heal, and inspire, contributing to a more inclusive and equitable world by spotlighting the beauty and resilience of women.

“Being an ANNA Award finalist means a lot to me; it shows that my hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Reapplying this year and being recognized gives me hope that with dedication, passion, and consistency, I can achieve anything I set my mind to.”

Kay-Leigh Fisher is a visual artist, curator and publisher based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds an Honours in Curatorship degree from Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town (2020) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art from the University of the Witwatersrand (2019).

Her research and practice focuses on themes and narratives of becoming, thinking through familiar relationships with objects and how they reinforce ideals around racial and gendered identity. Fisher was a co-recipient of the Bag Factory Artist Studios Young Womxn Studio Bursary (2022 - 2023) and works as a Programme Associate for the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF).

“I am thrilled beyond words to be among the Top 12 finalists for the 2024 ANNA Award! This recognition is a testament to perseverance, dedication and embracing creativity fearlessly.”

Leah Rachel Hawker (b.1983) is a South African artist. She completed a post-graduate diploma (with distinction) in fine art at the University of Cape Town in 2023 which took an intimate look at the lives and subsequent identities of GenZ women. She completed her initial studies at Ruth Prowse School of Art (with distinction) in 2005 with a body of work that dealt with female stereotyping. 

Her passion for image making evolved from a fascination with gender roles in society and our shared human condition.

By working with thousands of individuals in all contexts and environments over the last 20 years she has gained immense knowledge and understanding of human behavior. It is in both the public and private domain that she has made these observations, those of our fears and vanities: this is what she brings to her work.

She published her documentary art book Breastfeeding 101 (ISBN: 978-1-928440-29-1) in 2019. Leah has placed three times, as a finalist, in both the Sasol New Signatures Competition (2009, 2018, current - 2024) and Vuleka Awards (2006, 2022). She was a finalist in the Thami Mnyele Fine Arts, 2021. More recently she has exhibited at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, the University of Johannesburg and the KKNK.

Leah has initiated and worked on a number of curatorial projects, lectured at City Varsity, Western Cape Government seminars and Ruth Prowse Art School. She’s created photo essays for women’s upliftment projects and organizations in South Africa, Tanzania and Sri Lanka to date.

She is currently working towards her first solo as well as on a yearlong documentary photo story funded by the National Arts Council on the Madeiran community of Woodstock for exhibition in 2025.

“I feel deeply honoured, proud and thrilled to be amongst the 12 women artists selected as finalists for the 2024 ANNA Awards. As an artist working with topics pertaining to the female lived experience the ANNA Awards is a competition I hold high for its focus on women in the arts in Africa. It’s immensely meaningful to be a part of this year’s awards.”

Lee-Ann Olwage is a visual storyteller from South Africa who uses collaborative storytelling to explore themes relating to gender and identity. 

She is interested in using the medium of photography as a mode of celebration and aims to create a space where people she collaborates with can play an active part in the creation of images, they feel tells their stories in a way that is affirming and celebratory. 

Her journey in photography began unexpectedly after studying film directing and

scriptwriting. Following her education, she spent nine years working as a set decorator in the film industry, an experience that profoundly shaped her approach to narrative and visual composition. Through this background, Olwage developed a keen eye for capturing not just imagery but also narratives. She is particularly interested in reflecting on the way in which different cultures and communities interpret mental health and stories about education. Through her art, Olwage fosters a sense of community and creates vivid narratives filled with possibility. 

The Right To Play creates a powerful narrative that sheds light on the challenges faced by millions of girls globally in their pursuit of an education. Every day, girls face barriers to education caused by poverty, cultural norms and practices, poor infrastructure and violence. The project poses the question - What do girls dream of? And what happens when a supportive environment is created where girls are empowered and given the opportunity to learn and dream? What does that world look like?

The result is a poignant exploration of the dreams and aspirations of young girls, challenging societal expectations that limit their potential. By creating a playful world where girls are not confined by poverty, cultural norms, or violence and instead, is shown through a lens that paints a vivid picture of the possibilities that arise when girls are given the opportunity to learn and dream freely.

The Right To Play merges storytelling with an imagined playful world where girls are the shown in an empowered and affirming way blooming as the heroines of their own stories and overcoming the many barriers to getting an education.

Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Vogue, The British Journal of Photography, Foam magazine, Geo, The Guardian, Atmos, Vanity Fair Italy, Dazed, Wired, Musee Magazine and IMA Magazine.

“I am beyond thrilled to be a finalist for the ANNA award and incredibly grateful for an opportunity to be celebrated amongst other female artists. There is a wealth of rich and visually engaging stories being created on the continent and it is great to see this platform showcasing these bodies of work while supporting and celebrating women artist.”

Marie Aimée Fattouche draws inspiration from her fascination with mechanics, whether  mental, bodily, or environmental. From simple disruptions to breakdowns, from initial im pulses to the ultimate fluidity of movement, her art navigates the space between repair and  sublimation, exploring areas of uncertainty where contradictory possibilities converge. For  her, each fracture, whether tangible or abstract, serves as a catalyst for profound transformation. 

Imbued with her Egyptian roots, her perspective on the organisation of bodies reflects Eas tern perceptions of space. Through her work, she actively interrogates collective narratives  and femininity while scrutinizing mechanisms of power and belief systems. Her artistic com positions offer a multitude of perspectives, both spatial and temporal, inviting the viewer to  immerse themselves in a construction perpetually in motion, transcending mere representation. 

Following her final MA Fine Art exhibition in 2016 (Chelsea College of Arts, London), M.A Fat touche was awarded the Mercers’ Arts Award. In 2017, as the winner of the Red Mansion  Art Prize, she was invited to spend a month of residency in Beijing. In 2019, she had the honor of being among the eight artists shortlisted for the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award at Standpoint Gallery in London (the UK’s most prestigious prize for emerging artists wor king in sculpture). Her work has been exhibited in various institutions, including the Hockney Gallery (2018), and more recently at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art  (MAMC+) in Saint-Étienne as part of the GLOBALISTO exhibition (June to October 2022). In  January 2024, she has presented her solo exhibition NOUS INFINIRMON AMOUR at Galerie du Haut-Pavé in Paris.

“Life is a Weaving (Etel Adnan). Being part of the ANNA Award community resonates deeply with my identity, symbolizing the essential weaving to the African continent that lies at my core. Being a finalist for the ANNA Award 2024 means I am seen in the powerful web of women-identifying artists from the African continent and its worldwide diaspora. I am honoured to be chosen alongside 11 other artists to let our voices be heard.”

Ntsako Nkuna was born in 2001, Kempton Park Her interdisciplinary practice consists of screen-printed 3D renders and metallic frames reminiscent of structures that act as borders within domestic spaces, which speaks to how architectural structures influence how people interact within a space. Her approach to merging digital and physical mediums was influenced by her exposure to virtual spatiality through the internet and video games, this introduction to vitality has impacted her perceptions of materiality, inhabitation, and world-building, and this led her to consider the idea of world-building outside of virtual reality and into her immediate surroundings.

Nkuna's work also considers how spaces of play such as modular structures borrow their architectural language from  physical architectural structures and visa versa. She explored more of the digital world while studying design in high school and had a growing love for digital art and sculpture; these fundamentals have fed into her practice. Her practice aims to think critically about buildings as more than static enclosed structures with a specific function but as structures that acquire their shape based on how they are inhabited, and who they are inhabited by.

“I am incredibly excited to be an ANNA Award finalist. It is a fantastic opportunity to develop my practice, and further my engagement with the arts, and their imaginative role in South Africa. Indeed, the ANNA Award would provide me the space, time, and fiscal support to continue and expand my work. It would be an opportunity to make playfully and think expansively - for which I would be very grateful.”

Xanthe Somers was born and went to school in Harare, Zimbabwe. She graduated from Michealis School of Fine Art, UCT in Cape Town in 2015- she went on to be awarded a grant to study a MA Postcolonial Culture and Global Policy at Goldsmiths, University of London which she completed in 2020 with distinction. Xanthe Somers's practice is informed by the politics of aesthetics, and more significantly how the colonial history in Zimbabwe continues to manipulate aesthetic values.

Her work as a ceramic sculptor looks at reimagining everyday life and examining the subtle treason of objects. Through a sense of play, bright colours, mocking tone and exaggerated shapes, the artist tries to challenge the prevailing ideas associated with normalcy, beauty and refinement which have been manipulated by the Christian-Colonial gaze fixed strongly on southern Africa.

Xanthe recently completed the GUILD artist residency, for two months with Southern Guild in Cape Town, South Africa, March-May 2024.

“As an artist who works directly with themes of ‘women’s work’ and domesticity, I am honoured to be chosen for an award that gives female voices a space to be heard and recognised, as well as shedding light on their subject matter.”