Knight of Illumination Awards organisers Pio Nahum and Davide Barbetta from Clay Paky, Jennie and Durham Marenghi, and The Fifth Estate's Sarah Rushton-Read announced that work is already in progress for next year's debut South Africa KOI Awards, which will run alongside the trade event Mediatech in Johannesburg.
Mediatech is scheduled for 15-17 July 2015 and the southern hemisphere event will run in addition to the existing London awards.
"Clay Paky is proud to have been at the forefront of creating the hugely successful Knight of Illumination Awards, which is now in its seventh year and ever growing," says Pio Nahum. "We feel the time is now right to launch a sister KOI, and we are delighted to be doing so in South Africa. Clay Paky is committed to supporting the emerging markets worldwide, and has made many great friends in Africa over the years. We look forward to announcing more details of KOI South Africa very soon."
The announcement comes hot on the heels of the launch of the European KOI Awards 2014, which will take place this autumn in the UK.
Durham Marenghi, an award winning lighting designer in his own right and coordinator for the Knight of Illumination Awards, says, "The lighting industry increasingly receives huge support from companies across South Africa. We are keen to celebrate great lighting design wherever in the world that it is happening and we're looking forward to working closely with our friends and colleagues in the region to create a KOI South Africa we can all be proud of."
The Fifth Estate's Sarah Rushton-Read, who serves as chairman of the Concert Touring and Events category in the UK, adds, "Having visited South Africa on numerous occasions over the past few years, I've been inspired by the passion that exists there not only for lighting design, but for the industry as a whole. This makes it the ideal place to launch the sister event to the KOI Awards and I am delighted to be involved."
Details of the location, categories and date for the 2015 event will be revealed later in the year.
Duncan Riley, from South Africa's Clay Paky dealer, DWR Distribution, concludes, "We're thrilled that the international community will be able to celebrate the outstanding achievements of African lighting designers with the launch of KOI South Africa. DWR has long been a passionate supporter of lighting, and we're proud to be a part of this fast developing industry in our country. KOI South Africa is a fantastic step forward for all of us working in the industry."
(Jim Evans)
