Standard Bank and the National Arts Festival have announced the 2025 recipients of the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards (SBYA). As the awards reach the milestone anniversary of 40 years, a new generation of trailblazers takes their place in this storied legacy. These are six exceptional artists who are not just reflecting the world but reshaping it.
2025 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winners
- Asanda Ruda (Dance): From the community halls of Soweto to performing internationally, Ruda’s choreography is steeped in history, movement, and myth. A member of the Pina Bausch Foundation, she has captivated audiences with Kemet (Black Lands), her acclaimed solo work that earned her the 2025 Choreographers Research Residency Award in Paris.
- Siyasanga “Siya” Charles (Jazz): A magna cum laude Juilliard-graduate trombonist, Charles’s career is already a global story, shaped by collaborations with luminaries like Hugh Masekela and Grammy-winning artists. Through her Siya Charles Sextet, she’s redefining South African jazz, layering the country’s rich musical traditions with a fresh, fearless sensibility.
- Muneyi (Music): Limpopo-born Muneyi’s music pulses with memory, myth, and meaning. His lyrics, inspired by his Makhulu (grandmother), explore love, loss, and identity, transcending language while remaining deeply rooted in the cadences of Tshivenda storytelling.
- Modise Sekgothe (Poetry): Sekgothe isn’t just a poet—he’s a shapeshifter of sound, rhythm, and form. From Washington DC to Gothenburg and Brussels, his words have reverberated on global stages, bending the boundaries of spoken word into new realms of performance art.
- Calvin Ratladi (Theatre): Ratladi’s interdisciplinary vision is unapologetically expansive. A SAFTA-winning artist, he garnered Ovation Awards at the National Arts Festival and showcased his work at festivals in Germany and Luxembourg, pushing South African theatre into new, immersive dimensions.
- Nyakallo Maleke (Visual Arts): Maleke’s drawings are journeys in and of themselves—maps of migration, vulnerability, and spatial memory. With exhibitions across Europe and a Master’s from Switzerland’s edhea, her work expands the conversation around drawing as both medium and metaphor.
Shaping the future cultural landscape
“We are proud to support this new generation of visionaries as they continue to shape the future of our cultural landscape and ensure that our creative heritage thrives for decades to come,” said Bonga Sebesho, Standard Bank’s Group Head of Sponsorship.
More than 180 directors, actors, dancers, playwrights, musicians, poets, and visual artists have received this honour since its inception – a constellation of talent that includes William Kentridge, Andrew Buckland, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Mbongeni Ngema, and Nduduzo Makhathini.
What: 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners
WS
