Windhoek — Preliminary judging for the Bank Windhoek 2008 Triennale, presented in partnership with the National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN), started last Friday it was announced in a press statement.

The 2008 Triennale serves as a platform to promote visual arts in Namibia.

Judges Dias Machate, Rika Nel, Imke Engelhard and Zodidi Gaseb were hard at work until Sunday, August 31, with the preliminary judging process.

Over 260 art works from 89 artists were entered for the competition.

The winners will be announced during an award ceremony today, which is also the official opening of the Triennale exhibition. The public will have a chance to view the top entries at the NAGN until October 21.

Main Judge: Professor Yacouba Konate

Born on May 4, 1953 at Katiola in the Ivory Coast, Yacouba Konate is a tenured professor of Philosophy and Aesthetics at the Université d'Abidjan-Cocody. Konate is a member of the Scientific Community of the Academy of Science, Culture and Art from Africa and the Diaspora, a member of the International Association of Art Critics' Board of Administration and is listed among the European Union's experts in cultural development. He defended theses for both his doctorate (1980) and his "doctorate d'Etat" (1980) at the University of Paris 1, Sorbonne. In 1988 he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Stanford University in California.

An author, curator of many exhibitions and a consultant in cultural development, he also leads the Africa Office of the Jean Paul Blachère's Foundation. In 2000, Konate was Senior Adviser at the Ivorian Ministry for Culture and Francophony and has also been head of the national college of arts and led the Cultural Action in Abidjan. He has been the curator of a number of exhibitions including: The Abidjan International Exhibition of Visual Arts (May 2001), the Willie Bester Exhibition in Brussels (April 2001), the "Afrique á jour" Exhibition in Lille (September 2000) and the "South Meets West" Exhibition in Accra and Berne (December 1999 and June 2000).

Rika Nel is a longstanding lecturer at the Windhoek College of Education and served twice as an exchange lecturer at the University of Umeå in Sweden.

She is equipped with vast experience as fine-arts judge on a variety of levels ranging from pre-primary to professional. She is equipped with a BA Fine Arts Degree from the University of Pretoria as well as a Diploma in Higher Education at UNISA.

Dias Machate was a sculptor, ceramist and visual arts lecturer for five years at the University of Namibia and also a lecturer for more than 10 years in Maputo, Mozambique. He was involved in the first public bronze statues erected at the Tintenpalast and similar projects. He obtained a Masters Diploma for Sculpture and Three Dimensional studies at the "Hochschule Für Bildende Kunste" in Dresden, Germany.

Imke Engelhard grew up on a farm near Kalkfeld in the Otjozondjupa Region.

Her love for jewellery inspired her to study in her specialised field at the University of Stellenbosch where she obtained a BA degree. She worked as a goldsmith at a well-known jewellery and art gallery in Swakopmund. She has a printmaking studio where she offers classes and workshops on etching. She is currently an independent manufacturing jewellery designer and artist.

Zodidi Gaseb has a diploma in fine arts from Border Technikon School of Applied Arts in East London, South Africa, majoring in two-dimensional studies (painting and printmaking) and art theory. She also had three-dimensional studies such as ceramics, sculpture, life and applied drawing as well as communications and design. She is also a poet, ethnic jewellery designer, graphic designer and took part in dance and drama productions.