Standard Bank Young Artist Awards 2026

South African sculptor and installation artist Bronwyn Katz has been named the 2026 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner in the Visual Art category. The annual awards, announced on 2 April, recognise five young South African practitioners across disciplines and remain among the most respected acknowledgements of creative excellence in the country.

Katz works primarily in sculpture and installation, drawing on land, memory and material to develop a visual language rooted in the histories carried by everyday objects and the South African landscape. Her selection for the 2026 award places her among a cohort of artists shaping new directions in local contemporary practice.

The other four 2026 winners are jazz vocalist and composer Gabi Motuba (Music: Jazz), theatre and film maker Jason Jacobs (Theatre), dancer and choreographer Lee-ché Janecke — also known internationally as Litchi HOV — (Dance), and musician Ndumiso Manana (Music). Jacobs's work draws on his Nama-Khoi heritage to explore identity and community, while Janecke is recognised for his crossover between popular choreography and global performance culture.

Each winner will develop and premiere a new commissioned work at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda later in 2026. The Standard Bank Young Artist Award has, since its founding, been a launching point for many of South Africa's most prominent artistic voices, and the 2026 cohort continues that tradition across visual art, music, theatre and dance.