Format of the competition

• There are 12 countries that qualify to take part in the Absa L’Atelier.
• Post the receiving of entries, the 12 countries are randomly divided into three groups of four countries each.
• Artists within each group compete against each other.
• There is no competition among the three groups – artists compete within each group only.
• Artists are required to submit one entry which consists of a portfolio of work of a minimum of four and a maximum of five artworks.
• Submission of less than four and more than five artworks will result in the artist’s immediate disqualification.
• Each group of four countries will have a different group of adjudicators.
• A single winner will be selected from each of the three groups of four countries – one winner from Group A, one winner from Group B, and one winner from Group C.
• Absa will have the right to exhibit artwork from each of the group winners post the announcement of the winners.
• The winner of each group will be referred to as an Absa L’Atelier Ambassador.

2024 Absa L’Atelier Country Draw

Competition

The prizes

There are four prizes for the competition:

• The main prize for the winner of each Group; and
• The Absa Latelier Gerard Sekoto Award for a South African entrant that continues to demonstrate growth in their art production.

Competition terms and conditions

The Absa L’Atelier, through its prizes, focuses on how best to support the artist in growing their brand and in equipping artists with the relevant skills needed to build their careers. The Absa L’Atelier also gives artists opportunities to build their network and collaborate in their art practice, while providing them with an unique platform that would best position them within the visual arts industry.

Main prize

The winner from each of the three groups will receive the following:

1. The Ambassadors to take up their prize concurrently.
2. Each Ambassador to be provided with a new laptop or equivalent with Windows and MS Office Package.
3. Ambassadors attend ten online 120-minute Masterclasses over a three-month period with leading global authorities.
   • MC1: Mental wellness
   • MC2: Financial wellness
   • MC3: Legal wellbeing
   • MC4: Conflict Resolution
   • MC5: Developing your career as an artist and brand
   • MC6: Media training and presence.
   • MC7: Building and managing an art portfolio
   • MC8: Fundraising and proposal writing
   • MC9: Art professionalism
   • MC10: Artist residencies
4. The Ambassadors are paired with a local leading authority from their respective country within the visual arts who will mentor them over a four-month period.
5. The subsequent year to been awarded the prize, the three Ambassadors concurrently attend a two-month international residency (i.e., if winning in 2024, they will take up the residency in 2025).
   • This residency will take place in one of the 12 Absa countries in Africa.
   • While on residency the Ambassadors will attend online Masterclasses, have at least four mentoring sessions with their mentor (one session bi-weekly) and be exposed to the countries art scene.
   • Two of the Masterclasses (Mental Wellness and Artist Residency), in preparation for the residency, will take place prior to the Ambassadors taking up their residency.

6. Each Ambassador has an option for a solo exhibition within two years of winning the Award (i.e. if winning in 2024, they will take up the exhibition in 2026). The exhibition with either take place in the artist’s home country, at the Absa Gallery, or an alternative venue as decided upon by Absa and its partners. The Ambassador attends the opening and is awarded up to R100,000 for material costs towards the exhibition. All artworks would be available for sale with all proceeds thereof going to the artist. The masterclass, mentoring and collaborative exhibition to take place in 2025.

Note

1. If the winner elects not to accept the Award and/or any part thereof and/or is unable to accept same for any reason whatsoever, such prize may at the discretion of the sponsors be offered to one of the other participants, with the result that the refusing winner will not receive the prize and/or any part thereof;
2. The prize and/or any part thereof may not be exchanged for cash, in-kind and/or otherwise and/or in lieu thereof.
3. Upon the announcement of them winning the prize, the artist will be required to sign a contract with Absa and/or its partners for the duration of their prize.
4. Candidates accept all terms and conditions of entry and by entering the artist acknowledges having read, understood and thus accepted such terms and conditions of submission of their entry to the competition.
5. All prize winners will be expected to open an Absa bank account. All monies for material and exhibition costs will only be paid into an Absa account.

Prize for the two-month residency:

• • It is the artist responsibility to obtain the VISA, within the requirements for the applicable country, to take up the residency.
    • If the artist is unable to obtain the VISA and therefore cannot take up the residency, the prize cannot be replaced by another prize or exchanged for cash and this prize would be deemed to be forfeited.
    • Absa will cover the cost for the VISA on receipt of a copy the official invoice for the application of the VISA.
  • The artist would need to have a valid passport, that is valid for at least a period of least two years.
    • And the cost to obtain a passport, would be for the artist’s own account.

Gerard Sekoto Award

The Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award is open to any South African artist aged 25 to 35 years of age. The Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award is made possible by the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud and the French Embassy in South Africa, in partnership with Absa and SANAVA. In order to qualify, the entrant must be a permanent South African citizen and be permanently residing within South Africa.

The Award includes:

1. A three (3) month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. This would include a return airfare from South Africa to Paris, a daily stipend while in Paris, and return transport from the artist place of residence in South Africa to the airport.
2. The Award recipient will be required to take up their residency from April to June in 2025.
3. A solo exhibition in the Absa Gallery in Downtown Johannesburg in February 2026. Absa will cover the material and framing costs for this exhibition up to a maximum value of R100,000.
4. Three virtual masterclasses; namely, (1) Mental Wellness; (2) Financial Wellness; and, (3) Legal Wellbeing.

Note

1. Upon the announcement of them winning the prize, the artist will be required to sign a contract with Absa and/or its partners for the duration of their prize.
2. Winners are obliged to take up the residency in the year following receipt of the Award during the period it is offered and may not defer such prize to an alternate date.
3. The Award recipient is required to be physically present for the opening of their exhibition, Absa shall cover all travel expenses within reason to get the Award recipient to the opening.
4. If the winner elects not to accept the Award and/or any part thereof and/or is unable to accept same for any reason whatsoever, such prize may at the discretion of the sponsors be offered to one of the other participants, with the result that the refusing winner will not receive the prize and/or any part thereof.
5. The prize and/or any part thereof may not be exchanged for cash, in-kind and/or otherwise and/or in lieu thereof.

Candidates accept all terms and conditions of entry and by entering the artist acknowledges having read, understood and thus accepted such terms and conditions of submission of their entry to the competition.

The date of residency is April to June 2025.

Conditions of entry

Entries

• All entry details of the artist and artwork must be submitted on the Absa L’Atelier online competition portal.
• All fields must be completed when submitting an entry.
• Any field left blank will result in automatic disqualification of the entry.
• Adjudication for each submitted entry is done via the online portal.

Online registration

• Online registration will open on the Absa L’Atelier website on 1 April 2024.
• The competition will close on  16 June 2024 at 16:00 (CAT).
• No late entries will be considered.

How the winners are selected

Adjudication process in the Absa L’Atelier art competition

The Absa L’Atelier art competition sets the stage for the four prize winners to promote their work by exhibiting at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Absa L’Atelier art competition is open to everyone aged 21 to 40 years old. All artists, those with formal training, as well as self-taught artists, are given an equal opportunity to participate in the competition.

Adjudication of all submitted artworks is done by an independent panel of adjudicators appointed by the partners, namely the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA) and Absa.

The adjudicators for the Gerard Sekoto Award are appointed by the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud and the French Embassy in South Africa.

Each adjudicator is chosen for their particular field of expertise within the visual arts, including sculpture, painting, digital, printmaking and so forth, and each contributes to the assessment of what is deemed to be quality.

The criteria for the adjudication revolve around matters of technical execution, conceptual and thematic engagement, freshness of artistic vision within the context of African contemporary art, and finally – and probably the most difficult element – aesthetic appeal.

The adjudication for the Gerard Sekoto Award will be based on the body of artworks submitted  and the CV of the artist. Through their CV the artist must have demonstrated a willingness to grow and develop themselves as an artist, using the opportunities provided to them (i.e. participation in group exhibitions, solo exhibitions, previously having entered the Absa L’Atelier and participation on other art platforms).

Who may enter?

The competition is open to all artists who are not younger than 21 and not older than 40 on 31 March 2024. In the case of art students, only students in their final year of study, who meet the age requirements, may participate.

All prize winners will be required to take up the prize as per the date mentioned in the entry details.

Only artists who are citizens or have been granted permanent residency and are permanently residing in South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Botswana, Uganda, Mozambique, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Nigeria or Namibia may enter the competition. All airfares to the Absa Gallery and/or the residencies forms part of the prize, and is only from one of the twelve participating countries.

If information is not captured accurately on the system and any information is missing from the online registration, the entrant will automatically be disqualified.

Personal information

Absa will only collect, store and use your personal information, such as your name, age, telephone number and email address for the purposes of entering you, as the entrant, into the competition and for the purpose of administering the draw as set out in these rules. This will not affect any existing marketing preferences that you have registered with Absa.

By entering the Absa L’Atelier, your personal information may be transferred to our service providers and agents (including their subcontractors) to store and use as necessary to administer the competition. We will never pass your information on to any third party for them to use in their own direct marketing, without your consent.

Your personal information will be held on record for a short period of time, as necessary to administer the competition, and will then then be securely destroyed.

Which works may be entered?

Only one entry is allowed.

Each entry consists of a body of artwork, with a minimum of four and a maximum of five artworks.

All artwork must be uploaded via the Absa L’Atelier online platform.

The works of art must have been completed in the 12 months before the closing date of the competition.

Only original artworks by the artist may be entered.

Artwork subject to the following requirements:

• A single artwork cannot be larger than 2m x 2m.
• Sculptures must not be larger than 2m x 2m.
• Works of art that consist of several parts, including the frames, must not be larger than 2m x 2m.
• No installation artwork may be entered.
• No video work may be entered.
• No artwork will be accepted that incites hate speech and propaganda or violence against race, creed, gender or sexual orientation.
• No artwork compiled by more than one entrant will be accepted.
• No performance art will be accepted.
• All artworks must be exhibition-ready. If an entrant’s artworks are selected, they must immediately be ready for transport to the Absa Gallery.
• Any artwork that is partially or entirely produced using AI will result in automatic disqualification of the artist.

Preparation of the works of art

Entrants will ensure that the artworks are ready for exhibiting. To avoid damage to the artworks, it is advisable that the entrants use perspex covering instead of glass. The artist is responsible for supplying hanging clips and protective tabs for artworks that are not framed, but needs to be hung.

Artworks that are selected must be available for nine months from the closing date of entries. The competition organisers will not be under any obligation to return the artwork within this nine-month period. All efforts will be made to have the artworks returned as soon as possible after the final exhibition closes.

Dispatch, copyright and sales

All artworks are to be available for sale. Absa reserves the right to first offer.

Absa and its partners reserve the right to reproduce artworks that are entered, without compensation to the entrants, for inclusion in a catalogue or for the advertising of the Absa L’Atelier.

If any of the winning artworks are selected for an exhibition, entrants will not be allowed to withdraw any of the artworks selected for any reason whatsoever. Withdrawal of any artwork will result in automatic disqualification of the entrant.

Damage and/or loss

If any artworks are stolen, disappear or are damaged, the entrant will be entitled to compensation up to the insured amount only that must be agreed with Absa in writing prior to the artworks been shipped.

A claim must be made by the entrant concerned within a month of the artworks being returned/lost, failing which, such claim will be forfeited by the entrant involved. If an entrant is compensated for damaged artworks as set out above, the entrant’s damaged artworks will not be exhibited or continue to be exhibited and the damaged artworks will not be included in any catalogue.

If an artwork is damaged due to a faulty hanging system, it will not be covered by insurance.

Risk

If any artworks are stolen, disappear or are damaged while in Absa’s possession, the entrant will be entitled to compensation. The risk in respect of damage to and/or loss of the entrant’s artworks will pass to the organisers once the work is collected.

Selection

Adjudication will be based on the online entry. The independent panel of adjudicators will be constituted under the partners, SANAVA and Absa.

General

The adjudicators’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Absa and its partners are entitled to amend the terms and conditions thereof in so far as same is deemed necessary and such amendments may relate to any aspect of such competition, which may include the addition and/or deletion of any existing and/or proposed terms and conditions of the competition, which amendments may also affect the identified prize, including but not limited to the cash stipend of such competition.

The proposed amendments may be effected prior to the starting date of the competition and during the competition period, which amendments may result in the competition period being reduced and/or extended as deemed necessary and it is the participant’s responsibility to regularly check the website where the competition rules are made available for any amendments.

No participant will have any recourse or claim against Absa or its partners as a result of any amendment to these terms and conditions or as a result of Absa’s cancellation, termination or suspension of the competition and/or amendment of the prize.

Artists failing to take up their residency prize as per the indicated dates will forfeit their prize and will have no recourse against Absa or any of its partners.

On being announced as an Absa L’Atelier Ambassador, the winning artists will be required to undergo due diligence screening similar to that of Know Your Customer (KYC) and sign a contract with Absa and SANAVA and/or its partners, accepting the terms and conditions of the prize. Should the results of screening return major adverse media results, Absa and its partners reserves the right to withdraw the prize

The prize can under no circumstances be exchanged or swopped in any manner or form.

All people entering this competition (the entrants) agree that the competition rules as set out in these terms and conditions are binding on them.

The organiser of this competition is Absa. For purposes of this competition “Absa” means Absa Group Limited (registered number 1986/004794/06), all subsidiaries and associates of Absa Bank Limited and the ultimate holding company of Absa Group Limited, its subsidiaries and associates.

Entrants acknowledge that they have been given enough time to read these terms and conditions before entering into this competition. Entrants are aware of all the terms therein and by entering the competition, acknowledge as such.

Enquiries

Absa L’Atelier team

Email: gallery@absa.co.za