The Open Country Mag, in collaboration with Africa No Filter, has announced their first call for submissions for a new fellowship for African curators. Sponsored by Africa No Filter, The Open Country Mag Curatorial Fellowships intends to provide direct motivation, technical know-how, and funding support for new projects in a range of artistic fields: literature, film, music, visual art, photography, fashion, and media.
Four curators will be selected after all applications have been reviewed. Selected curators will work with three experienced instructors whose works span media, literature, film, fashion, activism, art, tech, and music. The instructors are Lumen Prize-winning interdisciplinary artist Minne Atairu, A Nasty Boy founder Innanoshe Akuson, and Open Country Mag editor and Future Award Africa winner Otosirieze.
Image courtesy of Open Country Mag
On the recommendation of the workshop instructors, selected project ideas will be activated. Two of the selected curators will receive $2,000 each, and the other two $1,000 each to finalize them. The projects will be showcased on the Open Country Mag website, with the Fellows as owners of the copyright.
They are looking for two kinds of project ideas:
- Projects that are groundbreaking endeavours in single fields (say, literature alone, film alone, or art alone)
- Projects that cross two or more fields (say, literature and visual art, film and music, fashion and tech and photography)
However, applicants can submit all formats of project ideas. The project ideas could be in the form of an art exhibition, a musical retrospective, a journalism series, a fusion of fashion and tech, or a blend of literature and photography.
Who can apply?
- Applicants must be African
- Applicants must already work in the artistic fields they propose to curate in
- It would be ideal, but not mandatory, for applicants to have a track record of successful curatorial work
Factors
- Applications, even if covering non-Anglophone countries, must be in English
- Applicants must be prepared to deliver their project within 6 months or, depending on need, a year after workshops
Applications should be sent to fellowships@opencountrymag.com and it should follow this format:
Header:
OCM Curatorial Fellowship Application 2023
Body of Email:
Name of curator:
Title of project:
Field(s):
Geographical reach (country/region/continent):
Description of project (750 words max.):
Potential impact or significance (250 words max.):
Links to previous or related work (250 words max.):
Bio of curator(s) (500 words max. each):
The submission opens on May 2, 2023, and will close on July 2, 2023.
