Artists In Residency: Sisonke Msimang, Ayobami Adebayo, Mona Eltahawy, Biyi Bandele, Yemisi Aribisala Lead 2018 Shortlists

February 26, 2018

The Artists in Residency (AIR) programme has announced its 2018 shortlists, and included on the 28-name lists are: Sisonke Msimang, author of the memoir Always Another Country (2017) and winner of the 2017 Brittle Paper Award for Essays/Think Pieces; Mona Eltahaway, author of Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution (2015); Ayobami Adebayo, author of the Baileys Prize-shortlisted novel Stay with Me (2016); Yemisi Aribisala, author of the John Avery Award-winning essay collection Longthroat Memoirs (2016), whose essay recently appeared in The New Yorker; Efemia Chela, 2014 Caine Prize- and 2018 Gerald Kraak Award finalist; Biyi Bandele, author of the novel Burma Boy (2007) and director of the Half of a Yellow Sun film (2013); Noo Saro-Wiwa, author of the travelogue Looking for Transwonderland (2012); and Nick Mulgrew, founder of uHlanga Poetry Press.

Mona Eltahaway. Image from VICE via Google.

An initiative of Africa Centre “seeking high calibre African artists, in different stages of their development (from emerging to late career), who are provocative, innovative, and stretching the boundaries of their artistic practice,” Artists in Residency (AIR) offers residencies in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Italy and the U.S., for “composers, writers, video/filmmakers, curators, visual and performance artists as well as other forms, whose work is inspired by or relates to the challenges facing humanity.”

Here is part of the announcement.

Last year, we received a total of 351 applications for residencies with our partners in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Italy and USA. The Africa Centre uses an external selection panel to shortlist its applicants. These artists are then submitted to our partners for final selection. The Africa Centre team is proud to present its shortlist of 28 innovative and socially engaged artists.

Here is the shortlist for the AIR – Bellagio Center Residency:

Ayobami Adebayo | Literature | Nigeria
Biyi Bandele | Multidisciplinary | Nigeria
Francis Nii Obodai | Visual Arts | Ghana
Mona Eltahawy | Literature | Egypt
Mo Abudu | Film | Nigeria
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah | Literature | Ghana
Noo Saro – Wiwa | Literature | Nigeria
Sisonke Msimang | Literature | South Africa
Sokari Douglas Camp | Visual Arts | Nigeria
Sylvia Vollenhoven | Literature | South Africa
Yemisi Aribisala | Literature | Nigeria

Here is the shortlist for AIR’s General Competition, which awards residencies at Bundanon Trust (Australia), Fountainhead (USA), Instituto Sacatar (Brazil), JIWAR Creation & Society (Spain), and the International Studio and Curatorial Practice (USA):