This year the chart toppers, hit albums and music maestros awarded at the MTV Africa Music Award will accept a brand new trophy designed by South African husband and wife team Dokter and Misses.
After a three-year hiatus, due to economic reasons, the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs) return to the global music calendar with a spectacular South African premier.
The MAMAs, previously hosted in Abuja, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya, will be held on 7 June 2014 in Durban where recipients will walk away with the dashing new trophy.
Adriaan Hugo and Katy Taplin of Dokter and Misses were commissioned to create a trophy that embodies the pan-African celebration of music, youth culture and lifestyle for which MTV Base is known.
"The award is about Africa - that was the starting point, says Taplin. "It had to be about music, connections with in the continent, energy and prestige."
The duo brought their penchant for strong modernist lines and graphic patterns to the trophy design. The stylised sculpture of the African continent is constructed from multiple layers presenting a different image of Africa depending on the angle at which it is viewed.
According to the designers the trophy design alludes to the dynamism of industrial machinery and graphic shapes of retro sound equipment but also the different elements of a continent working together through sound.
We wanted the viewer to make their own interpretations of the design, says Taplin. Like a good song; the more you listen to it, the more it reveals. That's why we took a more abstract approach.
Manufactured from brushed aluminium contrasted with brass in a brushed finish the award will certainly add some bling to the winners’ mantlepiece.
