Our fellow Thato Mogotsi was announced as a judge for The 2025 Norval Sovereign African Art Prize!

Founded in 2021, The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize aims to benefit contemporary artists working in Africa or of the African diaspora by increasing their international exposure.

A collaboration between The Sovereign Art Foundation and Norval Foundation, the Prize celebrates the practice of some of the most significant contemporary artists working today. Funds raised from the Prize are donated to Norval Foundation’s Learning Centre.

The Prize invites contemporary artists, nominated by a board of independent art professionals, to each enter up to three artworks online. A judging panel comprised of world-class art experts then shortlists the 30 best artworks from a range of digital images.

The shortlisted artworks are exhibited at Norval Foundation in Cape Town. Members of the public can enjoy the artworks and engage in the public vote. Local students are offered the opportunity to engage in educational programming.

At the exhibition, the artworks are judged for a second time and voted on by the public. The judges scores are aggregated, and a Grand Prize winner is named.

Thato Mogotsi joined Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) as Assistant Curator in 2022 where she recently co-curated GILT, a seminal retrospective on the decades-long practice of Nigerian-born, British artist, Mary Evans as well as a survey exhibition on the critical practice of French photographer Mame-Diarra Niang, titled 'Self as a Forgotten Monument'; both presented in 2023. Her ongoing focus as a museum worker is informed by artist-centred exchange within models of institution-building that further complicate notions of curatorial responsibility and authorship.

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