About

The Absa L’Atelier is a leading Pan-African art competition. It has been running for 37 years, and is hosted annually by Absa in partnership with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA). The Absa L’Atelier is about affording the winning artist(s) with the relevant skillset to develop and thrive as an artist in a forever changing world.

Every year, emerging visual artists from across Africa are given the opportunity to showcase their talents through the Absa L’Atelier. Additionally, the competition offers them a platform to explore themes and contemporary issues, while setting the stage to bring their possibilities to life. One only has to look at the past winning artists who have become ambassadors, to see how winning the Absa L’Atelier has helped to launch their careers and ultimately to grow their craft on a global stage.

Artists, aged 21 to 40, who are citizens, permanent residents and residing in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, are eligible to enter for the competition.

If you consider yourself to be a dynamic and passionate artist who is ready to bring your artistic possibilities to life, then the Absa L’Atelier is the competition for you.

For more details, please contact the Absa L’Atelier team at gallery@absa.co.za. For further information on SANAVA, visit www.sanava.co.za

Entries

• Each artist is permitted a single entry.
• The entry submission needs to be a portfolio of works consisting of a minimum of four, and a maximum of five different artworks.
• Adjudication is done on the portfolio of work entered.
• All entries must be submitted via the Absa L’Atelier online competition portal.
• The Absa L’Atelier competition portal will open for uploading entries on 1 April 2023.
• Entries close on 31 May 2023 at 16:00 (CAT).
• No late submissions will be accepted.
• Adjudication of each submitted entry is done via the online portal.
• When registering online and uploading artwork, it is essential that all fields are completed. Failure to complete all fields will result in an entry being disqualified.
• Any artist aged 21 to 40 years may enter the competition.
• All previous entrants will be required to reregister on the portal.

Partners and sponsors

Primary partners

• Absa Group Limited
• South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA).

Sponsors of the Gerard Sekoto Award

• The French Embassy in South Africa
• Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud.