The Friends of JAG’s efforts to reach broader audiences and increase access to the arts were recently recognised at the 20th BASA Awards, held at the Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park on 17 September.

The Friends, in partnership with Marianne Fassler and Breinstorm Brand Architects received the Innovation Award for The Evidence of Things Not Seen exhibition activation and accompanying Visible Tones online and social media public participation project.

The opening of The Evidence of Things Not Seen, JAG’s 2016 summer exhibition, coincided with an international series of events that explored black representation, in particular, the black portrait. Held in Johannesburg from 16 - 19 November 2016, Black Portraiture[s] III: Reinventions: Strains of Histories and Cultures, was the seventh international conference in a series of conversations about imaging the black body. To activate visual discourse around the themes in The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Friends of JAG invited artists, photographers and the general public to post portraits on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The submissions were simultaneously live streamed in the gallery for the opening and duration of exhibition and on the Friends of JAG website. The initiative garnered great response, reached a wide public audience and significantly boosted JAG’s social media following and reach.

“The Awards this year demonstrate great partnerships and the power of ongoing sustainability,” commented Michelle Constant, CEO of BASA in an interview with Wanted magazine.

The BASA Awards are judged by an independent panel of judges and the results audited by Grant Thornton.