THE winner of the SP Brewery Award for Illustration in the Crocodile Prize, Emmanuel David Amakure Landu, 23, has a dream.
“My dream is to become an architect, but not just any ordinary architect,” David, who is self-taught, says.
“I want to be a visionary architect. It’s a dream that may take up 10 years of my youth to get there – but I am hopeful.”
David was born in Port Moresby in 1992 of mixed Vanimo, Goroka and Milne Bay parentage.
His entry in the Crocodile Prize was David’s the first time he had exposed his work to public view, although his sister, Lapieh Landu (pictured with him here), is a two-time prize winner for her poetry.
“Writers and artists are alike,” says David. “We create things most people can only imagine or dream about.
“My word of encouragement would be to sustain such an initiative and continue to maintain our culture and tradition in the best way that we know how.
“Writing about our culture and traditions is important and so is drawing, painting and sculpting. If we don’t do it, who will?”
David says he was “speechless” when he learned he had won the first ever Award for Illustration in the Prize.
“The Crocodile Prize has been an amazing experience, to be able to be critiqued and inspired; two things I believe help grow an aspiring artist.
Winning this award has definitely empowered me to do more with my talent. To turn this hobby into something that will inspire and get people thinking about things that really matter in our society – things that make us who we are.
“Through my entire primary school education, most of the literature that we were taught was produced by international writers.
“I do not recall reading a lot of what our local writers wrote despite the number of very talented writers in the country. We need more of our local literature on our school bookshelves and in our universities and book shops.”
Illustration: ‘Torn Between Two Worlds’ by David Landu
David extended thanks to SP Brewery for sponsoring the Award for Illustration.
“You have proven to the best beverage-producing company in our country and internationally and I am honoured to receiving this award,” he said.
He also paid tribute to his parents, Harry and Susan Landu, “two of the most culturally-abiding and God-fearing people I know.
“I grew up in a very tight-knit family, very supportive and enthusiastic about each other’s dreams.”