2015 Artists in Residency Shortlist Released, South Africa Leads With 26 Nominations

December 07, 2015

In September, we announced a unique opportunity for a fully funded residency open to Africans in all sectors of the creative arts–visual, literary, performance arts and film. [read here if you missed it]

The shortlist of nominees are out, and South Africa cleans house with 26 nominations.

423 applications came in from 40 countries on the continent. A truly pan-African competition! These initial entries have been whittled down to 68 through a rigorous process carried out by a panel of advisors.

Nigerian poet Titilope Sonuga who we featured a couple of weeks ago made the list. [read here if you missed it.]

South African sci-fi writer Liam Kruger whose work was published here Brittle Paper also made the list. Go Kruger!

Other literary nominees include South Africa’s speculative fiction writer Lauren Beukes, Zimbabwe’s Tsitsi Dangarembga, and Uganda’s Doreen Baingana.

In spite of the South African dominance, the list of nominees are spread widely across the continent, representing countries such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Tunisia, Egypt, Botswana, Liberia, Cameroon, Mozambique, and DRC.

The Artist in Residency (AIR) was established in 2011 as a response to the challenges faced by African artists. Managed by African Center, the program runs a partnership that funds the placement of selected candidates in various residency programs all over the worlds.

The next stage of the screening will further pare down the list to 15 names. This final list will be released in 2016.

Wishing all the candidates the best, but most of all, our Brittle Paper writer, Liam Kruger.

See the full list:

Film: