“Lean on me/When you’re not strong/And I'll be your friend/I'll help you carry on,” crooned jazz legend Dianne Reeves, 66, at the opening ceremony of the Rolex Arts Festival last May.
The five-time Grammy Awards winner undoubtedly touched everyone with her soulful voice. Yet, Lean On Me bore an extra layer of significance for the members of the global arts community in the audience gathered at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens.
After all, for an artist, pushing the boundaries to better the next piece of work can be a lonely endeavour. When the going gets tough, some inspiring words or advice from a veteran can help bring the process back on the right track.
That is why the lyrics of the 1972 classic by American singer and songwriter Bill Withers perfectly captures the spirit behind the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative, a unique corporate arts programme created by the Swiss watchmaker in 2002.
Under each cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Programme, gifted young talents in architecture, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts are handpicked by luminaries from the respective fields for a two-year-long creative exchange.
Engaging with a mentor as a way to learn and achieve one's full potential as an artist is an ancient and respected practice. The formalised process appears in the works of the great thinkers of the golden age of the Greeks.
Only in relatively recent times has mentoring been neglected. However, it is once again gaining popularity as an effective learning approach in diverse fields beyond the arts, such as business and education.
A two-way process
Rolex’s vision for revitalising mentorship in the arts is in keeping with its tradition of supporting individual excellence. Proteges in the programme are granted access to the greatest artists in the world, many of whom welcome the opportunity to share wisdom, experience and ideas that transcend boundaries of nations, cultures and disciplines.
Since 2002, 1,350 people from 120 countries have been nominated for the programme. Sixty-three mentors have generously shared their expertise and time with 63 proteges hailing from 41 countries.
At the opening ceremony of the Rolex Arts Festival – organised in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the initiative – Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour said: “This adventure started with a unique idea – a gift of time to young artists, to help them to learn and grow alongside masters of their disciplines.
"For more than a century, we at Rolex have seen what happens when young people learn from those who came before them. They build on this knowledge to innovate, to create something original. In this way, progress is made.”
A fitting celebration
The Rolex Arts Festival dazzled audiences with architecture exhibitions, art installations, literary talks, dance performances, a screening of short films and a grand music concert – all centred on the amazing work and skill of Rolex arts fellows.
Each of these activities showcased how creativity flourished under the mentor-protege relationships as well as how both individuals grew and blossomed as a result of the bouncing of ideas and philosophies off each other.
The 2023-2024 cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Programme will be no different. The mentors and proteges will spend the next two years in creative collaboration, working together in ways that will allow them to learn more about each other and share artistic views.
Besides being a performer at the festival, American jazz vocalist Reeves is also one of the mentors, handpicking South Korean singer-composer Song Yi Jeon to be her protege.
Other mentor-protege pairs this cycle include acclaimed Chinese auteur Jia Zhang-Ke and multi-award-winning Filipino filmmaker Rafael Manuel; Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui and South African visual artist Bronwyn Katz; French architect and 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Anne Lacaton and Lebanese-Armenian architect Arine Aprahamian; and British author Bernardine Evaristo and Ghanaian writer Ayesha Harruna Attah.
Towards the end of her performance, Reeves invited mentors and proteges from the past two decades to join her on stage. Up stepped the likes of architects Kazuyo Sejima and David Chipperfield; film directors Alfonso Cuaron and Mira Nair; novelist Colm Toibin; and dance choreographer extraordinaire Lin Hwai-Min along with many proteges.
Standing on stage was a multi-generational community of artists, who were not there for fame or money but simply as passionate and like-minded individuals ready to share knowledge and perpetuate arts and culture.
Rebecca Irvin, the head of the mentoring programme, put it best: “Rolex inaugurated this initiative in 2002 with the goal of transmitting artistry at the highest level from one generation to the next. We could not have anticipated that, 20 years later, our mentors and their former proteges would have formed a globe-spanning community.”
A glimpse of iconic partnerships over the last 20 years
Here are some of the remarkable pairings of the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative, where artistic luminaries guide and inspire outstanding global young talents:
Dianne Reeves and Song Yi Jeon (2023-2024)
Five-time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, renowned for her remarkable virtuosity and improvisational skills, mentors South Korean modern jazz singer and composer Song Yi Jeon. With a voice compared to a malleable wordless instrument, Jeon's unique sound and captivating improvisations have garnered acclaim. Together, they embark on a creative journey, sharing their musical insights and shaping the future of jazz.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Agustina San Martin (2020-2022)
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the renowned creator of Tony Award-winning musicals Hamilton and In The Heights teamed up with Agustina San Martin, an emerging filmmaker with a penchant for dark and esoteric storytelling. Despite their contrasting styles, their stimulating collaboration pushed them to explore new creative horizons. Miranda's support and guidance during the making of his film Tick Tick... Boom! provided invaluable insights, fuelling San Martin's aspiration to create narratives for a wider audience, while her fresh perspective inspired Miranda's own artistic process.
Spike Lee and Kyle Bell (2020-2022)
Spike Lee's empathy for Native American stories and Kyle Bell's introspective nature created a powerful connection between the celebrated filmmaker known for his bold storytelling, and the young Native American filmmaker. The mentorship helped Bell gain confidence to break out of his shell and find his voice, inspiring him to pursue broader narratives and work to bring his stories to life, while Lee appreciated the opportunity to support an emerging talent.
David Chipperfield and Simon Kretz (2016-2017)
British architect David Chipperfield and Swiss architect Simon Kretz embarked on a theoretical exploration of city planning and its influence on the aspirations of its denizens. Together, they delved into the intricate details of urban design in the UK and Switzerland, engaging in enlightening discussions that deepened their connection. So enlightening was their study that they have co-authored a book, On Planning: A Thought Experiment, to share the results of their investigation with the world.
Margaret Atwood and Naomi Alderman (2012-2013)
Internationally acclaimed author Margaret Atwood and her protege, novelist and game developer Naomi Alderman, share a deep connection fuelled by their mutual interests in history, technology and storytelling. Their mentoring years were filled with intellectual excitement as they explored topics ranging from the existential significance of zombies to the merits of popular culture – even co-writing a digital zombie novella for Wattpad.
In partnership with Rolex, Artistry Unbound is a series of initiatives that celebrates excellence and perpetuates artistic heritage, creating a link between the past, present and future.
