Pola Maneli is an illustrator and animation director based in South Africa. His work brings together bold and graceful compositions, and deeply researched concepts, to tell compelling stories about people, places, and ideas.

email: polamaneli@gmail.com
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Clients: Google • The New Yorker • New York Times • The Atlantic • The Nelson Mandela Foundation • The New Statesman • Brown University • Quartz • The Goethe-Institut • Constitution Hill • The Funambulist • The New York Review of Books • The Mail and Guardian • Two Dollar Radio Publishers, amongst others

2012 - NELSON MANDELA UNIVERSITY BACHELOR’S DEGREE GRADUATE
2013-14 - GRAPHIC DESIGNER / ART DIRECTOR FOR BOOMTOWN STRATEGIC BRAND AGENCY
2013 - THE LOERIE AWARDS - COLLATERAL DESIGN STUDENT SILVER
2013 - THE LOERIE AWARDS - CRAFT ILLUSTRATION STUDENT GOLD
2014 - DESIGN INDABA EMERGING CREATIVE
2014 - 2015 - ART DIRECTOR FOR OGILVY & MATHER CAPE TOWN
2014 - CAPE TOWN CREATIVE DESIGN DIALOGUES PANELIST
2015 - DESIGN SHARE PARTY SPEAKER
2015 - CAPE TOWN OPEN CITY EXHIBITOR
2015 - “SUMMER FLING” EXHIBITION - SPACE BETWEEN GALLERY
2015 - CITY PRESS NEWSPAPER DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
2016 - GALERIE NOKO “DIALOGUE BEYOND FRONTIERS” PANELIST
2016 - PUBLISHED IN: “FASHION ILLUSTRATION AFRICA: A NEW GENERATION” BY SHOKOPRESS
2016 - PUBLISHED IN: “THE SHIFT OF EMANCIPATION: VISUAL ARTS, COHESION, TRANSFORMATION, SOUTH AFRICA” - VOL. 1 ‘STATE OF AFFAIRS’
2016 - “IN THE MAKING” EXHIBITION - ARTEC GALLERY
2016 - “INTERSECTIONS” EXHIBITION - NELSON MANDELA UNIVERSITY
2016 - 1ST PLACE CREATIVE CIRCLE AD OF THE MONTH - DISTRICT SIX TRAVELLING SUITCASES CAMPAIGN
2016 - SHORTLIST CANNES FESTIVAL OF CREATIVITY (MEDIA CATEGORY) - DISTRICT SIX TRAVELLING SUITCASES CAMPAIGN
2017 - CAPE TOWN ART FAIR EXHIBITOR
2017 - JOHANNESBURG ART FAIR EXHIBITOR
2017 - ALTER-NATIVE SCREENPRINT GROUP EXHIBITION
2018 - ACADEMIC RESEARCHER AT NELSON MANDELA UNIVERSITY
2018 - “GENDER FLUX” GALERIE NOKO GROUP EXHIBITION
2019 - DALINDLELA GROUP EXHIBITION
2019 - “WE ARE PRESENT” GROUP EXHIBITION
2019 - “IDENTITY & SOCIAL COHESION” COLLOQUIUM, SPEAKER
2019 - COLOURS OF YOU FESTIVAL OF CREATIVITY EXHIBITOR
2018 - 2019 - VISUAL ART HISTORY & DRAWING LECTURER AT NELSON MANDELA UNIVERSITY
2019 - AFROVIBES “SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER” NETHERLANDS PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL EXHIBITOR
2019 - RED LOCATION CULTURAL PRECINCT, ‘SKETCHBOOK 2.0 RESIDENCY’ PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
2019 - RED LOCATION CULTURAL PRECINCT, ‘SKETCHBOOK 2.0 RESIDENCY’ EXHIBITION AT NELSON MANDELA ART MUSEUM (CURATOR)
2020 - “AN INDIGENOUS EYE” GRADUATE EXHIBITION
2020 - MA FINE ART DEGREE GRADUATE
2020 - RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN GUEST SPEAKER
2021 - “MIXED MEDIA” UNCLES ART DEALERS GROUP EXHIBITION
2021 - THE LOERIE AWARDS - CAMPAIGN CRAFT ILLUSTRATION GOLD
2021 - NEW YORKER’S BEST IN ILLUSTRATION (2021)
2022 - THE GOETHE-INSTITUT - “POWER TALKS” EXHIBITION
2022 - THE GOETHE-INSTITUT - “POWER TALKS” CONFERENCE SPEAKER
2022 - COMMUNICATION ARTS ILLUSTRATION ANNUAL SHORTLIST
2023 - THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST IN ILLUSTRATION (2023)
2024 - THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM - SPIKE LEE “CREATIVE SOURCES” EXHIBITION
2024 - BRUTAL GALLERY - “BLOOM & BLISS” GROUP EXHIBITION
2024 - WORLD ILLUSTRATION AWARDS SHORTLIST
2024 - STELLENBOSCH ACADEMY - GUEST SPEAKER
2024 - THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST IN ILLUSTRATION (2024)
2025 - THE ONE CLUB - ADC AWARDS JUROR
2025 - THE ADC AWARDS - ILLUSTRATION CAMPAIGN BRONZE
2025 - THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS - ADVERTISING AND INSTITUTIONAL JUROR