Since Art became a career, emerging artists are known to be opportunity seekers, always looking for ways to expand their knowledge in the Arts and sell their created works. The selection of yearly open calls and opportunities for contemporary artists in Africa might be just what you are looking for.
- RELE YOUNG CONTEMPORARIES
Image courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery
The Rele Arts Foundation invites artists from Africa to take part in her yearly edition of Young Contemporaries Bootcamp and Residency programme. The Bootcamp is an intensive workshop designed to guide and educate emerging artists on critical thinking as well as identifying and harnessing their talent.
WHAT YOU GET: At the end of the Bootcamp, successful Bootcamp participants will move on to be part of a one-month-long residency program usually led by a notable international art critic and mentor.
ELIGIBILITY: This opportunity is open to African artists.
STATUS: Currently closed to submission for 2022
To apply and for more information, visit their website
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- BLACK ROCK SENEGAL
Image courtesy of Artsy
Black Rock Senegal is a yearly residency program founded by Kehinde Wiley in 2019. Driven by the mission to support new artistic creation through collaborative exchange and to incite change in the global discourse about what Africa means today, the residency brings together international artists to live and work in Dakar, Senegal for 1-3 months.
WHAT YOU GET: Room, board, private studio space, local staff to help with getting around Dakar. Also a language tutor to help with English, French, and Wolof—the three main languages of the program—are all given for Black Rock residents. Additionally, residents receive a stipend for extra creative supplies and incidentals.
ELIGIBILITY: Open to visual artists, writers and filmmakers with an emphasis on those who engage with Africa.
STATUS: Currently close to submissions for 2022
To apply and for more information, visit their website
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- ART X PRIZE
Image courtesy of Chigozie Obi
Art X Lagos is a west African art platform founded in 2016 by Tokini Peterside-Schwebig to showcase and support the breadth of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Since its debut, Art X has grown popular in its ability to showcase fast-rising artists, curated presentations and interactive projects. During their yearly fair in Lagos, they award early career artists from Africa and its Diaspora with opportunities to develop their practice, and set them to reach the highest level of success in the art scene.
WHAT YOU GET: This year, the artist selected from Nigerian will undergo a residency at Gasworks London. Its selection for artists in Africa and its diaspora will be selected to undergo a residency at Yinka Shonibare’s G.A.S. Foundation in Lagos. The artists will be granted exhibitions at the ART X Lagos fair in 2023, supported by a $10,000 grant for their exhibition.
ELIGIBILITY: For artists in Africa and its Diaspora.
STATUS: Currently closed to submissions for 2022
To apply and for more information, visit their website
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- NOLDOR RESIDENCY
Image courtesy of Mobolajio Ogunrosoye
Noldor Artist Residency, founded in 2020 is Ghana’s first institutional artist residency and fellowship program under the Institute Museum of Ghana – targeting African artists on the continent and in the diaspora.
Artists-In-Residence spend 6 weeks at the institution with access to material resources to expand on their practice in a dedicated studio space.
The Senior, Junior and Visiting Fellowship programs last from six months to a year – offering fellows vast studio spaces across its multiple repurposed factory warehouses and requisite resources to aid their creative processes during their tenure with Noldor.
WHAT YOU GET: During the residency, artists are required to produce a portfolio of works rooted in their existing practice and cultivated throughout the experience at the residency. At the end of the program, they exhibit the works for a month in a dedicated warehouse space for its local and international audience through a sustained partnership with galleries in London, New York, Paris and others.
ELIGIBILITY: The residency is open to artists in Africa and its Diaspora.
STATUS: Currently closed to submissions for 2022
To apply and for more information, visit their website
Follow them here
1 Comment
I am an African artist residing in Ethiopia.