Currently 8 active visual and media arts grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in Africa. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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The Pulitzer Center funds civil society in the Global South to build civic engagement projects around Pulitzer Center-supported journalism: grassroots collectives, community-led movements, ARTISTS and civic coalitions taking published reporting to the communities it concerns. This grant cycle is restricted to the Center's Climate and Environment topics: RAINFOREST (drivers of rainforest degradation, the role of global markets, finance and policy, centring the rights and roles of Indigenous peoples), OCEAN (degradation of marine environments, ocean health and the climate crisis, ocean governance, science-backed and community-led solutions), and CLIMATE AND LABOR (the intersection of climate and labour, including gender, livelihoods, adaptation and community resilience). WHAT COUNTS AS A PROJECT: community engagement and organising that connects reporting with audiences; creative expressions, explicitly including digital campaigns, public performances and creative publication formats; public dialogues bringing together affected communities, journalists, decision-makers and academia; and other innovative uses of the reporting that build on local cultural practices. Every project must use at least one published Pulitzer Center-supported reporting project meaningfully, or involve a Pulitzer Center-supported journalist centrally, and must name a clear target audience. OUT OF SCOPE: journalism and reporting projects themselves (those go to the Center's reporting grants), anything not built on Pulitzer Center-supported reporting, direct advocacy or lobbying, campaigns endorsing political candidates or parties, and for-profit projects. WHO CAN APPLY: grassroots organisations, community educators, civil society organisations and coalitions, youth movements and other groups working at the intersection of journalism, civic rights and active citizenship, with past experience running civic engagement activities in the Global South, proven experience on the named topics, and the operational capacity to manage a microgrant from an international organisation. APPLICATION: a project description of no more than 400 words, the target audience and desired impact, your methodology, a timeline and budget, the lead applicant's CV with a letter of recommendation, and, where activities involve Indigenous peoples or traditional communities, a signed or recorded statement of consent from a community member. Applications are accepted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Indonesian through Submittable. TIMELINE: applications 15 August to 6 September 2026, selection announced mid-September 2026, onboarding October 2026.
Voices for Climate Justice supports African storytellers making work about how climate finance reaches the continent as debt rather than as grants. The framing of the call: African nations are being pushed further into debt through loans despite the continent's minimal contribution to the crisis, with many governments spending more on debt repayment than on health and climate adaptation combined. WHO IT IS FOR: journalists, content creators, podcasters, vloggers, muralists and data visualizers. WHAT YOU GET: a 12-month programme delivered with Comic Relief giving 15 to 20 storytellers training in climate justice, data storytelling and narrative framing, then mentorship and work with researchers and partners to develop accurate, research-based stories, plus content amplification and grants of up to USD 4,000. ELIGIBILITY: aged 18 or over; based in one of the ten listed countries; an active and highly engaged platform (podcast, YouTube channel, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, publication or data visualization portfolio) running for more than a year; a combined audience of 5,000 or more followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter/X and Snapchat for content creators and data visualizers, while journalists may instead demonstrate reach through publication circulation; content creators must be unsigned and not represented by an agent, though journalists may be affiliated with a publication provided the submitted work and content rights remain their own; a commitment to publishing at least four pieces on gender, debt and fossil fuels over at least six months; and individual applicants only, no organisations or agencies. Proposals must focus on the campaign's core themes of climate justice, gender, debt and fossil fuels in Africa. NOT CONSIDERED: incomplete applications, postal or email submissions, hacked material, vulgar, racist, sexist or homophobic material, work reinforcing stereotypes of Africa as poor, corrupt, diseased, conflict-ridden or lacking agency, and accounts or posts boosted by paid engagement. HOW TO APPLY: prepare a pitch deck of no more than 5 slides or a video of no more than 60 seconds connecting gender, debt and fossil fuels in Africa, then submit through the ANF application portal with links to your platforms and a short description of the audience you plan to reach. Content may be delivered in English or French. Selection weighs originality of the idea, relevance to ANF's mission of storytelling beyond stereotypes, relevance to the gender-debt-fossil fuel focus, and reach or standing on your platform or in your community. Only shortlisted candidates are notified.
Gasworks residency open call for an early-career contemporary visual artist based in East Africa. The eleven-week, fully funded residency runs at Gasworks in London from 7 April to 22 June 2027. Gasworks' residency programme supports professional development, cultural exchange and artistic experimentation, hosting up to twenty residencies a year; residencies are self-led, non-prescriptive and process-based, with artists expected to lead on the research and production of their own work while Gasworks provides administrative, pastoral and curatorial support during office hours. The residency includes studio visits with Gasworks staff, external curators, artists and educational groups, at least two individual studio visits with other artists, curators and arts professionals, networking opportunities, a dedicated residency page on the Gasworks website with a short video interview filmed and edited by Gasworks, and an Open Studio event and presentation of the work and research developed during the residency on 12 June 2027. ELIGIBILITY: early-career contemporary visual artists based in Burundi, the Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the French Southern Territories, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania or Zambia only. Applicants should have at least a moderate level of spoken English and feel comfortable discussing their work in English. The residency is offered subject to approval of the visa application. Deadline 28 September 2026, 12:00 UTC. No fee.
Annual prize from Gallery 1957 in Accra for women artists connected to Ghana and to Senegal, which joins the prize for the first time in 2026. Two winners are selected, one from each country, and each receives USD 5,000 in cash, a three-month residency exchange in the partner country with flights, artwork transport, accommodation and materials covered, and a resulting exhibition with the gallery. ELIGIBILITY IS GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED: applicants must be female citizens of Ghana or Senegal, aged 18 or over, living in Ghana, Senegal or the diaspora, and must present a valid national ID or passport. Not open to international applicants without that citizenship. Apply by email to applications@gallery1957.com with an artist bio or statement of no more than 200 words and a portfolio of up to six high-resolution images or videos with captions, both as PDFs. Questions go to awo@gallery1957.com. Deadline 30 September 2026.
The Circulation strand of Connect and Create funds the touring and dissemination of African artistic creations across Africa and Europe. It is part of the Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture programme (EUR 8M, led by the Goethe-Institut and Expertise France in partnership with Institut francais, supported by the European Union), and is a different strand from the Professional Mobilities call also on the desk. THIS CARD IS THE SECOND CALL, deadline 30 September 2026 (the first call closed 30 November 2025). AMOUNT: EUR 15,000 to EUR 39,500 per project. WHAT IS FUNDED: mobility costs for artistic teams, including transport, visas, insurance, lodging, per diems, local transport, and shipping of scenographic and technical elements. WHO CAN APPLY: artistic teams (performing arts companies, music ensembles, collectives) based in sub-Saharan Africa; dissemination structures (production houses, artist managers, theatres, labels, venues) based in Africa or Europe; and event organisers (festivals, markets, professional gatherings) in Africa or Europe. Applicants must be legally established in one of the 47 eligible sub-Saharan African countries, Kenya among them, or one of the 27 EU Member States. INDIVIDUALS CANNOT APPLY. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS, two formats: (1) TOURS, requiring a minimum of 5 pre-booked dates across at least 3 different African countries, or at least 3 pre-booked dates in one or more European countries; (2) PROGRAMMING WITHIN MAJOR EVENTS, requiring a festival, market or professional gathering in Africa or Europe to host at least 3 artistic teams from different African countries. TIMELINE: activities must take place between February and December 2027; selection committee December 2026, results announced January 2027. PRIORITY is given to projects that build on existing tandems already collaborating, feature emerging artists, use eco-responsible practices, and address inclusion. APPLY via the Institut francais emundus portal. Questions: connectandcreate@expertisefrance.fr.
Touring and circulation strand of Connect & Create, the sub-Saharan component of the EU-funded Africa-Europe Cultural Partnerships programme, led here by the Institut francais and Expertise France in the Team Europe spirit. It funds the circulation of African performing arts and music creations in Africa and Europe. WHO CAN APPLY: artistic teams (performing arts companies, musical ensembles, collectives based in Africa), distribution structures (production offices, artist development agencies, support structures, labels, venues or cultural spaces in Africa or Europe) and events (festivals, markets, trade shows or professional meetings in Africa or Europe); structures must be based in sub-Saharan Africa or an EU country. PROJECT TYPES: tours in Africa with a minimum of 5 pre-booked dates in at least 3 countries outside the artist's country of residence; tours in Europe with a minimum of 3 pre-booked dates; or programming at major events featuring at least 3 artistic teams from 3 different African countries. PRIORITY goes to projects with originality and grounding in their context, sustainable collaborations, support for younger generations and emerging scenes, an eco-responsible approach, and attention to inclusion and accessibility. AMOUNTS: EUR 10,000 to 20,000 per project (EUR 15,000 to 25,000 for delegations of 5+ nationalities), covering at most 70 percent of the budget; at least 30 percent co-financing required. TIMELINE: projects run February to December 2027. APPLY via the Institut francais eMundus platform. Deadline 30 September 2026 at 23:59 Paris time.
The Kekere Storytellers Fund pays micro-grants to emerging African storytellers who are already creating and publishing work that offers fresh and alternative perspectives on the continent, showing an Africa that is innovative, evolving and creative rather than defined by poverty, conflict, disease, poor leadership and corruption. Africa No Filter describes the fund as its way of getting funding, which is limited and rarely accessed by up-and-coming storytellers, to artists, journalists and content creators. PREREQUISITE: applicants must first be members of Africa No Filter's African Narrative Collective, so join that before applying. ELIGIBILITY: African, based anywhere in Africa or the diaspora; under 35; able to work in English or French; a track record of ground-breaking work that challenges stereotypical narratives about your community, country or the continent; at least two years of related work experience; a minimum of 5,000 followers across Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube; and falling into at least one of two categories, MEDIA AND CONTENT CREATORS (journalist, blogger, vlogger, podcaster, fiction and non-fiction writer, photographer) or ARTISTS (poet, musician, spoken word poet, dancer, painter, sculptor, illustrator, animator). NOT ELIGIBLE: filmmakers, who are directed to ANF's Last Mile Film Fund instead; storytellers without evidence of narrative-shifting work; requests to buy equipment such as cameras or laptops; and requests to host or attend events such as workshops, festivals or conferences. WHAT ANF IS LOOKING FOR: an interesting, unique story about Africa that amplifies unheard voices, challenges global perspectives and introduces contemporary narratives, with a clear sense of what you want the reader or viewer to take away and the impact you want to create locally and globally.
Reimagining Ghana is a UK-Ghana arts project by Forty-Four Words in collaboration with writer Ekow Barnes, supported by the UK Government and Arts Council England, exploring how contemporary creative practice can respond to ideas of Ghanaian identity, memory and representation. Having begun with commissioned non-fiction essays on the question What is Ghana?, the project now commissions three visual artists to create new work informed by research, dialogue and public engagement, running until Summer 2027 with public events in London and Accra. COMMISSION: GBP 2,500 artist fee per artist, a materials budget, curatorial and research support, and dialogue with peers and project collaborators; the commission fee, timeline and core deliverables are guaranteed even as the research evolves. ELIGIBILITY: artists aged 18+ of Ghanaian heritage, available throughout the project period, working across visual arts; the team looks for curiosity, thoughtful engagement with identity, memory, history, place and representation, and openness to collaboration. APPLY via the Google Form with an artist statement, motivation, outline of interests, and one PDF with CV and portfolio (minimum four works). The deadline is rolling; reviewing began 17 August 2026, so early application is advised.