Western Africa

From 13-20 April 2024, the 13th edition of the Market for Abidjan Performing Arts (MASA) will take place in Abidjan. The organisers are calling for companies and artists working in various performing arts categories.

OneBeat Ghana is now accepting applications for socially engaged artist-entrepreneurs from Ghana, Nigeria and the U.S. (ages 19-35) to participate in an intensive 2-week residency from 6-20 November 2023. The Ghana-based program will convene 11-12 artists from all 3 countries to exchange and build strategies for stronger artist communities and creative economies in the region.

The Dëkandoo Artistic Residence is a production residency for artists of Spanish or Equatoguinean origin who wish to develop a research and artistic creation project linked to the commune of Gandiol and the Natural Park of the Langue de Barbarie. The residency will run for five weeks, starting 1 November 2023.

L’UNIMA internationale, ses commissions Afrique et Formation professionnelle, en collaboration avec des Centres Nationaux de l’UNIMA, lancent ensemble un appel pour une formation francophone qui se tiendra du 10 au 16 mai 2023 à Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, et à distance. Le but de cette formation est de consolider le travail de marionnettistes œuvrant déjà depuis de nombreuses années dans l’espace public en leur apportant un soutien théorique et pratique.

In partnership with the Chocolonely Foundation, NOOR Foundation are organising an extensive workshop training programme in West Africa to develop, produce and amplify the local stories around the cocoa communities. The workshop takes place between March - September 2023, with a seven-day workshop in Divo, Ivory Coast. The programme is open to French speaking photographers of all ages, who are nationals of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, or Togo.

Academie voor Theater en Dans (AHK) in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Ecole des Sables in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal are currently seeking applications for Africa-based dancers to participate in a residency exchange. The residency will take place at Ecole des Sables, Toubab Dialaw from 25 February – 26 March 2023.

The pan–African program LEWO (Leadership and Empowerment for Women) is dedicated to the professionalisation and capacity building of women artists and cultural entrepreneurs in Africa. 16 female artists and cultural entrepreneurs from West Africa and Central Africa will be selected to take part in BOOT CAMP #3 scheduled in Ségou from March 2023.

The Access ART X Prize awards early-career artists from Africa and its Diaspora with opportunities to develop their practices. One artist will be selected from Nigeria for a residency at Gasworks in London from July to September 2023. Another artist from Africa / the Diaspora will be selected for a residency at Yinka Shonibare’s GAS Foundation in Lagos from September to November 2023. Both artists will exhibit at the ART X Lagos fair in November 2023.

This year, the African Union celebrates its 20th anniversary since the organisation’s establishment at the Durban Summit of July 2002. As part of this commemoration, the African Union (AU), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is hosting a residency programme at Loman Art House in Dakar, Senegal from 7-28 November 2022 for established visual artists from across Africa to produce a piece of work that celebrates the unity and potential of the African continent.

The African Union (AU), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is hosting a residency programme for established writers from across Africa to produce a piece of work that celebrates the unity and potential of the African continent. The writers residency will take the form of a hybrid programme, with two online meetings in October/November 2022 and a two-week physical residency at the Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) in Accra, Ghana from 14-28 November 2022.