ANTIDOTE’S SIZO BAGS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

MBABANE – Antidote music’s Sizo Hlophe has bagged himself a Prince Claus Seed Award.

The Prince Claus Seed Awards help emerging artists to explore new perspectives and develop their practice on their own terms. Together with Mentorship and Impact Awards as their aim is to contribute to a world in which culture can exert its transformative power and lead to positive change. Hlophe’s core mandate and work includes being involved in the arts and culture space. This is where he delves into music publishing and artist management to name a few.

Brightest

He is also a culture manager and co-founder of Antidote Music. To date, Hlophe and Mmeli Hlanze (Antidote co-founder) have worked with the brightest young artists to emerge in the kingdom including Sukoluhle !Sooks Dlamini and Nhlonipho, who have gone on to make their mark in the Southern African region.
Antidote works as incubation for artists, where they bring them in when they have raw talent and get them through various steps to seeing the artists winning awards.

Hlophe is also involved in the arts space between Mozambique and Eswatini. This is where he closely works with Centro Cultural Mocambique-Alrmao and curate music for Poetas D’Alma International Festival for Poetry. “I have also worked with BBC Africa in telling stories of some of the young talented people of the country. Last year, I was a part of the Digital Lab African Programme for my project Antidote Music and won the music category in the continent. My biggest push has been to showcase the talents of young people from Eswatini to the world, creating pathways for them and developing a cultural ecosystem in the country that can create sustainable living for artists,” he said.

Recognition

Asked on what this meant and how he felt about being recognised as a deserving recipient of the award, Hlophe said he was grateful for the recognition of the work that he does. “It really speaks to the work me and my team do in the country, the Prince Claus Foundation is the most prestigious organisation in the world of arts and culture and I am really grateful for the recognition. I further received a private message from the programme director saying, ‘We love the work that you do’, which to me further amplifies not just me and my organisation, but the entire cultural space in the country,” he noted.

Furthermore, Hlophe’s Antidote Music has a partnership for three years with Poetas D’alma International Festival for Poetry and Sizo he facilitated the movement of about 11 Eswatini artists in the past three years. Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) CEO Stanley Dlamini congratulated Hlophe on winning the award as he said Eswatini was now ready to compete on the international stage. He urged emaSwati to make use of social media and technology.

Professionalisation

He further added by saying, “Since we push for the professionalisation of the arts sector, our artists are no longer regarded as amateurs but deserve to compete on the international stage.” He further urged emaSwati to participate in the competitions because the country was ready to compete with the rest of the world.
Since its establishment in 1996, the Prince Claus Fund has found various ways to fulfill its mandate to support arts and culture, especially where it is under pressure in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.

The annual award ceremony currently has three categories of Prince Claus Awards, that are designed to support artists and cultural practitioners in different ways at crucial stages in their professional careers. This includes the Prince Claus Seed Awards, Prince Claus Mentorship Awards and Prince Claus Impact Awards.

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