🕊️ Jan 2025 Opportunities 🕊️
resources for African meaning-makers on the continent (plus our September workshops!)
Hi everyone!
I’m happy to be back with your beloved Opportunities newsletter. 2025 has a soft fleshy ring to it, a well-fed year. Time to sow, time to sow! I’ve also included playback links from the studio’s September workshop series.
I don’t imagine everyone interested in the Opportunities in Sweet Medicine is interested in our workshops. Yet, here you are receiving all these newsletter verticals in your inbox.
Thankfully, Substack allows you to subscribe or unsubscribe from verticals you’re not interested in. Please visit https://studiostyles.substack.com/account to customise your Studio Styles experience.
Jobs & Residencies
Call for PhD student - Dr Yolande Bouka at Queen’s University, Canada, Global (Ongoing)
Researchers interested in pursuing the intersection of Afrofeminist Thought and International Relations are encouraged to apply for a PhD in the Department of Political Science at Queen’s University.
Artist Residency Program - The Watermill Center, Global (Jan 15)
The Watermill Center is an interdisciplinary laboratory for the arts and humanities that provides a global community with the time, space and freedom to create and inspire. Their Artist Residency Program offers artists across disciplines access to an extensive collection of resources to develop their practice in a communal environment. It is advisable to apply early as applications are capped at 400 total.
Call for Applicants: CCA Archives Research Residency Program - The Centre for Contemporary Arts Lagos, Undisclosed (Jan 12)
The CCA and Goethe-Institut Nigeria are partnering to offer archivists, artists and curators the chance to access the archive of Bisi Silva, the founder of CCA Lagos. The program involves categorization , conceptualization, curatorial examination and digital archiving of the CCA with the aim of creating a digital arts archive that will serve as a valuable resource.
Call for Residents - Oroko Radio, Global (Jan 15)
Oroko Radio, an independent radio station based in Accra, Ghana, is open to new radio residents. Studio Styles has a show on it as a resident, check out the episodes here.
Residency Program - Villa Albertine, Global (Jan 30)
Villa Albertine is looking for creators, researchers and culture professionals with an original research project they intend to pursue in the fields of art or ideas that require an immersive stay in the United States. The project should relate to the challenges faced in the territory and should initiate active dialogue with local actors.
Grants & Fellowships
Monthly Microgrant - NewComma, Global (Jan 31)
The NewComma Creative Fund is a monthly microgrant to support an African creative with no strings attached.
776 Fellowship - 776 Foundation, Global (April 22)
The 776 Fellowship offers $100,000 grant and support to Fellows aged 18-24 that are willing to dedicate two years to the pursuit of measurable solutions to climate change.
Black Orpheus Fellowship - OlongoAfrica, Nigeria (Ongoing)
OlongoAfrica is offering long-term and short-term opportunities to support quality research and writing on the history, politics, and influence of the Black Orpheus journal and the Mbari Club generation. They are offering both in-person fellowships and remote fellowships involving independent research with the digital or physical archives.
Unwired Currents Fellowship - Futuress, Global (Jan 14)
Futuress is a hybrid learning and publishing community where feminism, design and politics meet. Their mission is to amplify marginalized voices in the radical democratization of design education. They are offering a fully funded, six-month online fellowship for participants from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to envision technologies beyond dominant narratives.
Fellows - Open Society Foundations, Lagos (Jan 15)
The Open Society Foundations, a nonprofit that champions the search for bold, democratic solutions by supporting independent voices and organizations around the world, is looking for its next fellows. This year, fellows will be selected exclusively from seven cities around the world including Lagos, Nigeria. Fellows will receive a living stipend for one year of $100,000 and up to $20,000 for project expenses.
Submissions
Call for Papers - Makerere Institute of Social Research, Global (Jan 30)
The Makerere Institute of Social Research is an interdisciplinary research unit based in Kampala, Uganda. They invite graduate students to submit abstracts (300 words max) on the theme: Rethinking Political Identity in Africa for the MIRS Graduate Students’ Conference 2025. Submission is via email to: gsc1.misr@gmail.com
Call for Short Films - Africa Film Society, Global (Jan 8)
The annual Classics In the Park screening series by Africa Film Society in Accra, Ghana is still accepting submissions of short length (under 20 minutes ) narrative, experimental, documentary and animated films. The films must have been made after September 2023.
Call for Papers - Encounters in the Archive - Autograph ABP & Parse Journal, Global (Jan 8)
Autograph and Parse Journal are calling for presentations that examine how reactivating archival materials through diverse perspectives and disciplines can challenge dominant narratives for a new symposium Encounters: Art, Power and Archives. Submissions are encouraged by contributors from all backgrounds.
Call for Writing - Autograph ABP (The Liberatory Space of the Photography Studio), Global (Jan 6)
Autograph ABP is looking to publish new writing that critically engages with the ways the photography studio can serve as a liberators space to explore expression and identity. Successful applicants will receive a £312 fee to produce the text, editorial support and publication on the Autograph website.
Open Calls - Enugu Portfolio Review, Enugu Photo Festival (Ongoing)
Enugu Photo Fest presents their first portfolio review in Enugu, Nigeria, Enugu Portfolio Review. This project will provide an environment for interaction, learning and growth for participants with the goal of building thriving visual artists and developing professional practice of photography.
The Tampered Manuscript Prize - Tampered Press, Ghana (April 5)
Tampered Press, an innovative independent publisher based in Ghana, is open to manuscript submissions for the Tampered Press Manuscript Prize. This prize will be awarded to a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by a Ghanaian author primarily resident in Ghana. The writer will receive ₵20,000 and simultaneous publication in Ghana and Nigeria by Tampered Press and Masobe Books respectively.
Film Submission - AFRIFF, Global (Ongoing)
AFRIFF is a Nigerian festival celebrating film & visual storytelling in Africa.
Workshops & Resources
Fiction Writers Program - Oxbelly, Global (Jan 22)
The annual Oxbelly Fiction Writers Program facilitated by award winning author Chigozie Obioma welcomes emerging writers to eight days of workshops and craft sessions in historic Messinia, Greece. There is no cost to apply and all expenses are covered by the organization.
Grant Writing Workshop - Okada Collective, Lagos (Jan 5)
Okada Collective, an artist-led collective advocating for mobility justice, is partnering with Polygon HQ to organize a one day grant writing workshop for artists and cultural practitioners.
Harmattan Workshop - Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (Ongoing)
The Harmattan Workshop by the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation invites artists, creatives and thinkers for the 27the edition of retreat. This year, the retreat will occur in two sessions centered around the theme: “Employing Art and Creativity as Economic Driver in the 21st Century.”
Creative Opportunities & Resources - Goethe-Institut Nigeria, Global (Ongoing)
The Goethe-Institut Nigeria is a cultural institution dedicated to promoting cultural exchange, education and societal discourse. This is made possible through various programs, residencies and resources which are open to creatives, researchers and learners across various disciplines globally. Whether it is their Artefact Biography Workshop or the Support and Connect Grant, there is an opportunity for everyone. Check your country’s Goethe-Institut office for similar opportunities across Africa.
Workshop Series (playback playlist)
"The right people will find you." - Sylvia Arthur on building LOATAD in Accra, Ghana (full video on YouTube here)
On September 12, Sylvia Arthur, founder of the Library of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) in Accra, Ghana, talked about building a cultural institution in Africa. She emphasized starting small, with LOTAAD beginning in a one-room office in 2017 and growing to a two-story house in 2020. Sylvia highlighted the importance of knowing one's mission, diversifying funding, keeping meticulous records, and documenting everything. She also stressed the need for consistency and the importance of team building, noting that many team members found her through social media and personal connections. She also shared her perspective as the organiser of the LOATAD writing residencies and what applications reviewers look out for.
Read Sylvia's essay on starting LOATAD published in LitHub here:
"But doing this work is both selfless and selfish. For every child I help to read, it’s not just their life that’s changed, but mine. To deny the feeling of pleasure and, indeed, self-satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve made a difference to an individual, a community and, by extension, a society, would be to deny being human. After all, the payoff of self-sacrifice is often self-fulfillment. There are no saviors, not even Black ones."
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"Keep knocking on doors until we find the door that's for us." - Benita Nnachortam on building Kuta Arts Foundation (full video on YouTube here)
On September 23, Benita Nnachortam joined us to talk generously about starting and running the Kuta Arts Foundation. She emphasized the importance of leadership skills and high-quality documentation of one’s practice and whatever projects and organisations one is building. She shared her experience of starting Kuta with limited resources, using personal savings, leveraging community support, having a clear vision, and the value of exchanging services for resources. It was a heartfelt session. Start small, document rigorously and build a strong team.
Kuta Arts Foundation: https://www.instagram.com/kutanigeria/
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"Remember that reality is plasticine" - Yaa Addae and Uzoma Orji on sustaining a creative career (full video on YouTube here)
On September 28, Yaa the feeler and Uzoma the dreamer focused on developing creative careers. Yaa shared insights on grant writing, budgeting, emphasizing understanding the application, introducing oneself boldly, being attentive to application requirements, and finetuning one’s ideas as a continuous practice even when not working on applications. Uzoma began by critiquing the dependency on external funding and advocating for the provincialising of grants in one’s repertoire of resources. The QnA brought up some gems on challenges with budgeting and the need for realistic project planning.
Here is the Artist Statement worksheet developed by Yaa Addae, that she shared during her presentation.
Uzoma’s website: https://uzomaorji.com/ ; https://uzoma.studio/
Yaa’s website: https://yaa-addae.net/
“Remember that reality is plasticine—the world that we have inherited can feel like it’s fixed, but anything is up for contention.” - Yaa and Uzoma, 2020.
Till next time!
Other recommended opportunities listings:
Esohe Iyare’s African Writer Weekly,
Trybe Africa Creative Opportunities for Africans,
Open Country Mag’s List of 2024 Opportunities,
Sonia Weiser’s Opportunities of the Week,
Talia Augustidis’s All Hear,
Sean Meades-Williams’s Freelance Writing Jobs,
Commonwealth Foundation’s Creative Opportunities List,
Aurore Iradukunda’s monthly roundup for (African scholars),
Run the Check(UK),
Grants for Creators (US),
Sisterly HQ (NG),
and our Instagram page, where we share opportunities more frequently on our stories.
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