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FT, Oppenheimer Funds unveil African nominees for 2016 arts competition

10 Aug 2016, 07:29 pm
Financial Nigeria
FT, Oppenheimer Funds unveil African nominees for 2016 arts competition

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- Two Africans, Syowia Kyambi, a Kenyan; and Gareth Nyandoro, a Zimbabwean, have been nominated in the Art Work category. 


The Financial Times and Oppenheimer Funds have revealed nominees for their second annual Emerging Voices Awards – a global initiative designed to recognize artistic talents in literary fiction, film-making and artworks across more than 100 emerging market nations.

Two Africans, Syowia Kyambi, a Kenyan; and Gareth Nyandoro, a Zimbabwean, have been nominated in the Art Work category. The third finalist in this category is a Jordanian, Noor Abuarafeh.

Last year, a Nigerian writer, Chigozie Obioma, won the Emerging Voices award for fiction for his novel, “The Fishermen.” He also received a cash gift of $40,000.        

According to a statement on Wednesday by Oppenheimer Funds, a global asset management company, the winners in each category will be announced at a gala ceremony on September 26 in New York City. All shortlisted artists will be invited to attend and winners will receive a $40,000 award each. Two runners-up in each category will receive a $5,000 cash gift.  

“It was an exciting experience to be a part of the judging process for the second year in a row,” said Michael Skapinker, associate editor of the Financial Times and chair of the judges.

The finalists in each category were chosen from a long list of more than 797 entries across 64 emerging market countries. There were 10 entrants in each category.

“The quality of submissions we receive each year from emerging artists around the world is truly stunning,” said Justin Leverenz, Director of Emerging Market Equities at Oppenheimer Funds and Founder of the Emerging Voices Awards. “In our day-to-day work, we look to identify undiscovered opportunities as part of our Emerging Markets investment philosophy. What a pleasure it has been to discover such incredible artistic talent and to have created a platform to showcase it on a global stage.”

Oppenheimer Funds and its subsidiaries, which manage more than $219 billion in assets for over 13 million shareholder accounts, offer a broad array of products and services to clients, who range from endowments and sovereigns to financial advisors serving individual investors.

Finalists for the 2016 Emerging Voices award for film are: Solon by Clarissa Campolina (Brazil); Olia by Tania Cattebeke (Paraguay); and Impressions of War by Camilo Restrepo (Colombia). Finalists in the fiction category for 2016 are: The Seventh Day by Yu Hua, Pantheon Books (China); Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, Verso Books (Indonesia); and The Four Books by Yan Lianke, Chatto & Windus (China).


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