🔎 July 2024 Opportunities 🔎

calls and resources for African meaning makers on the continent

Hello to you and welcome to another opportunity newsletter.

Deborah: The second half of the year is a time for reflection. Reflect on how far you have come and how much you have done. Be thankful for your craft, to the support around you and to the body that holds you.

Immaculata: ‘Healing’ is the word of the season at Studio Styles HQ. In Ayi Kwei Armah's novel The Healers, Densu asks the healer Damfo, "what really is the healer's work?"

To which Damfo replies, "You may say it is seeing. And hearing. Knowing. According to Damfo, the healer trains his senses to read signs and his body to feel so that he can learn the meaning of the river's sound.”

We’re sharing these opportunities in that spirit. If any of them resonate with you, may they give you a blessed chance to see, hear and know yourself and your world, its troubles and their remedies a little more. And may you find the courage to offer your gifts of knowledge back to the world.

Listening to this episode of the Restful show on Oroko Radio (‘After God, Fear Love’) while formatting this newsletter was an interesting experience.

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Jobs, Residencies and Fellowships

• Job Opportunities - Oroko Radio, Africa (Ongoing)

  Oroko Radio is an independent radio station based in Accra, Ghana that aims to connect, inspire and empower through conversation, collaboration and community among African and Diasporic artistic communities. Our very own Restful magazine has a show on it, check previous episodes out here! Oroko Radio is currently looking for an Operations Assistant and a PR & Community Content Manager to join their team remotely.

• Editor-in-Chief - African Studies Association’s History in Africa journal, Global (September 15)

  Based in the United States, the ASA supports understanding of an entire continent in each facet of its political, economic, social, cultural, artistic, scientific, and environmental landscape. Its members include scholars, students, teachers, activists, development professionals, policymakers and donors. ASA is on the lookout for an Editor-in-Chief for the ASA journal, History in Africa, published by Cambridge University Press. Interested applicants should have a PhD in African History.

• Job Opening - Ake Collective, Nigeria (July 5)

  Ake Collective’s goal is to bring African superfoods to as many people as possible and inspire moments of self-care and well-being whilst enabling their community of small-scale growers/farmers to thrive. They are looking to fill the positions of Executive Assistant, Accountant and Sales & Customer Success Executive.

• Editorial Steward - Healing Justice London, London (ongoing)

  Healing Justice London began as a collaboration by women of colour living in London aiming to restore agency to communities to imagine and organise towards liberation. Building on years of youth, community and survivor work and using cultural strategy and a multi-layered multi-systems approach, HJL works on a community, structural and movement level to repair and build the conditions for health and healing justice that dignify and support all of us to be well.

  They are launching their new editorial space, In Practice, soon and are looking to hire an Editorial Steward to guide and shape the space. According to them, “In Practice is a space for us to think out loud and unresolved about the longings, tensions, contradictions, and opportunities within our movements.”

• Mentorship Program for Female East African Curators - Independent Curators International, East Africa (August 15)

  Independent Curators International aims to strengthen art communities by supporting the work of curators through experimentation, collaboration and international engagement. In conjunction with the Njabala Foundation and AWARE: Archive of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, they are organizing a 6-month mentorship program for female-identifying curators based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. 

• The Limbo Fellowship Project - Minority Africa, Africa (July 19)

  The Minority Africa Fellowship targets journalists and storytellers from minority groups across Africa providing them with the platform, skill and mentorship to report stories from and about their communities.

  Their new project, the Limbo Fellowship Project, intends to provoke journalistic discourse surrounding ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, waterfront communities and related marginalized groups contending with uncertainty across Africa. This edition of the Limbo Fellowship focuses on five countries; Mozambique, Mauritius, Uganda, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

Prizes and Scholarship

• The Morland Writing Scholarship - The Miles Morland Foundation, Africa (September 20)

  The Morland Writing Scholarship is an initiative from the Miles Morland Foundation to support writers to produce the first draft of a completed book. Selected scholars will receive an £18,000 grant over twelve months. Interested applicants must have already published and sold work.

• The Marie-Solanges Apollon research residency program - AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions (August 18)

  The Marie-Solanges Apollon program seeks to encourage research that highlights the artistic practices of women in transcultural situations related to the Black Atlantic, according to Paul Gilroy, or the Global South. Special attention will be given to propositions that focus on performance art by women artists from Africa and of African descent.

  Projects that are part of a re-reading of art history through archival excavation, curatorial, academic, or community-based research will be particularly appreciated.

• Moving Narratives Fellowship - Prince Claus Fund (July 16)

  If you are you an artist focused on highlighting marginalized histories or questioning dominant narratives, the Prince Claus Fund encourages you to apply to the second cycle of their Moving Narratives fellowship. Supported by four mentors, Moving Narratives brings together 12 socially and politically engaged mid-career artists and cultural practitioners working across diverse mediums and approaches. The mentors guide participants and provide feedback, to encourage exploration and to challenge and support their practice. Additionally, each participant receives an award of €10.000 to work on the project or body of work outlined in their application.

• Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D. Thesis Award 2024 - the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos, Africa (September 30)

  This award seeks to encourage and appreciate young intellectuals whose Ph.D. theses address African and diaspora issues.

  The winner of the award will receive the sum of $1,000 (One thousand US Dollars), the first runner-up will receive $300 (Three hundred US Dollars), and the second runner-up will receive $200 (Two hundred US Dollars).

Call for Submissions

• Call for Submissions - Loún Loún Journal, Global (August 25)

  Loún Loún is a literary journal focused on historical fiction set during events that have shaped and defined the African historical tapestry. Submissions are open to African writers and writers of African descent on the continent and abroad.

• Call for Submissions - Agbowo, Global (August 30)

  Agbowo is a literary journal that serves as a common space for showcasing and celebrating African literary and visual art. They are open to submissions for an unthemed issue. 

• Film Submissions - Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF), Global (ongoing)

  The Eastern Nigerian International Film Festival (ENIFF) is an annual celebration of diversity in filmmaking dedicated to fostering the next wave of filmmaking talent. They are currently open to film submissions in various categories.

• Open Call - No! Wahala Magazine, Africa (July 15)

  No! Wahala Magazine is a contemporary African magazine that champions authentic visual stories by African creatives. For their third issue, they intend to highlight the spirit of resilience in the face of hardship and complexity by curating a collection around the theme ‘Joy’. Submissions are open to African photographers only.

• Call for Essays - Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies, Global (September 1)

  The Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies publishes interdisciplinary and cross-cultural articles and interviews on literature, history, politics and art whose focus involves colonialism and its aftermath.

  For this special Issue on Contemporary African Novelists in America, guest editor Simon Lewis is seeking manuscript submissions on contemporary African writers who have come to prominence in the United States over the last two decades.

Resources and Grants

• In Gathering We Grow - Chris Udoh & Anyen Iyak Foundation, Nigeria (June 30, deadline passed but was worth sharing)

  In Gathering We Grow is a retreat from Chris Udoh and the Anyen Iyak Foundation that aims to connect young leaders in the art and culture ecosystem to build unity and collaboration amongst young art/ cultural leaders and apostles. The goal of the retreat is to connect, teach, learn and grow with other young cultural changemakers - creating opportunities to forge stronger bonds that will propel the industry.

• Grant Writing Workshop - Eastern Nigeria Film & Arts Initiative, Global (July 10)

  Ever wondered how exactly people get grants to make films? The Eastern Nigeria Film & Arts Initiative is organizing a workshop that will help answer any questions you may have on grants and grant applications. The workshop would be facilitated by director of ‘No U-Turn’ documentary film, Ike Nnaebue.

• Lolwe Academy, Global (ongoing)

  Lolwe is a Pan-African literary magazine that focuses on amplifying work by writers, poets and visual artists from Africa, Caribbean and the Black diaspora. The Lolwe Academy offers a series of virtual creative writing classes and masterclasses.

• The Writing Room - Brittle Paper, Global (ongoing)

  The Writing Room is an initiative by Brittle Paper to provide writers and creatives with access to free courses taught by experts in the writing industry such as Chimeka Garricks and Molara Wood. The courses are free and accessible to anyone around the world.

• The Harmattan Workshop - Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, Nigeria (ongoing)

  The Harmattan Workshop is the brainchild of renowned printmaker Dr Bruce Onobrakpeya. Artists, thinkers and creatives are invited to the 26th edition of the retreat which is centered around the theme: “Folklore: Folk Tales, Folk Art, Myths and Legends.”

• African Women Non-fiction Editorial Workshop - Cassava Republic, Africa (July 10)

  Applications are still open for the Cassava Republic Non-fiction Editorial workshop which will be held from 28th August - 8th September 2024 in South Africa. It is open to female African editors working on the continent.

• Creative Writing Workshop - CANEX, Africa (June 30)

  In collaboration with Narrative Landscape Press and the James and Grace Adichie Foundation, the CANEX Book Factory is organizing a creative workshop for prose writers based in Africa to support and develop literary talent within Africa and in the diaspora.

• Daniele Tamagni Grant - Daniele Tamagni Foundation, Global (August 20)

  The Daniele Tamagni Grant, dedicated to the memory of photographer Daniele Tamagni, provides emerging photographers support in making their first steps in the industry. For the third edition of the grant, the selected photographer will be provided with a scholarship to attend the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography programme at The Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg later in the year.

• 2024 Grant Cycle - The  W. Eugene Smith Fund, Global (September 24)

  The W. Eugene Smith Grant named after the renowned photographic essayist is designed to encourage and support visual storytellers whose photographic work renews the tradition of compassion evidenced in his 45-year career. The 2024 Grant cycle is open to photojournalists and photographers all over the world who utilize photography to address an issue of import.

• Artist Grant - HUG & Black Women Photographers, Global (July 31)

  HUG is a global community for artists and art lovers to connect with opportunities and with each other. They are partnering with Black Women’s Photographers to award a grant of $500 to a member of the BWP community.

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Other recommended opportunities listings:

Open Country Mag’s List of 2024 Opportunities, Sonia Weiser’s Opportunities of the Week, Talia Augustidis’s All Hear, On the Move, Sean Meades-Williams’s Freelance Writing Jobs, Commonwealth Foundation’s Creative Opportunities List, Aurore Iradukunda’s monthly roundup for (African scholars), Creative Lives in Progress, Run the Check(UK), Grants for Creators (US), Sisterly HQ (NG), and our Instagram page, where we share opportunities more frequently on our stories.

Compiled by Immaculata Abba and Deborah Iyalagha.