The ellipse art projects endowment fund opens the next edition of the ellipse prize to African artists residing in Togo as well as Togolese artists living on the African continent.
The ellipse prize is an itinerant competition of contemporary art initiated by the endowment fund ellipse art projects honouring each year the artistic creation of a country on the French territory. After Senegal and Ivory Coast, the ellipse prize dedicates its third edition to the Togolese artistic scene.
Designed to encourage intercultural exchanges and the mobility of artists, the ellipse prize gives the winner access to international networks and the opportunity to be exhibited in France at the AKAA – ALSO KNOWN AS AFRICA international art fair, which will be held from 20 to 22 October, 2023. The winner will also benefit from a media campaign and a tailored professional support.
In connection with a theme specific to each edition (“dreamy memory” for this 2023 edition), the ellipse prize is addressed each year to the artistic creation of a sub-Saharan African or an Asian country. This visual art competition aims to spread the messages conveyed by the artists in order to raise collective awareness of our environment. In a context where economic and social disparities are constantly rising, the ellipse prize wishes to encourage the mobility of artists allowing them to share their work and meet creators from different cultures and horizons.
After Senegal and Ivory Coast, the ellipse prize continues to follow the west coast of the African continent by dedicating its third edition to Togo.
In 2023, it’s a new emerging art scene that the endowment fund wishes to highlight by addressing the competition to artists residing in Togo, including all Togolese artists from the continent. With a growing interest of independent initiatives for the artistic development of the territory, the “petit pays” is witnessing the emergence of an increasingly assertive contemporary scene, as observed earlier in Benin, a neighbour with which Togo shares a common cultural heritage.
Fruit of a great cultural diversity with more than fifty different ethnic groups for 9 million inhabitants originating from the whole Atlantic coast, Togo is a real breeding ground for contemporary creation.
The ellipse prize is accompanied by an independent jury of contemporary art professionals including some from the Togolese art scene this year, who will select the five finalists and the winner.
- Victoria Mann (Director-Founder of the AKAA fair)
- Atelier Ati – Ferdinand Kokou Makouvia & Juliette Delecour (Founders of Artméssiamé, artists residency based in Lomé)
- Armelle Malvoisin (Journalist, curator, african art market specialist)
- Eric Wonanu (Visual artist, curator)
In order to consolidate its commitment, ellipse art projects associates each year with partners to increase its capacity for action and to act as a lever for social change in France and in its countries of intervention. The partners of this third edition are:
- AKAA, ALSO KNOWN AS AFRICA, Paris
- Association Atelier Ati, Lomé
- Institut Français du Togo, Lomé
ellipse art projects was created in 2020 by the French company Ellipse Projects specialized in design and build projects in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Ellipse Projects invests in the social well-being of all the countries in which it operates. Culture is a key element of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN since 2015. Culture is a real sustainable lever to promote economic growth and social inclusion. It’s undeniably undermined by the lack of support for artists, initiatives and structures working for its dissemination, promotion and protection. In the wake of the geographical location of the founding company, the ellipse art projects endowment fund aims to promote exchanges within territories through art by inspiring the sharing of knowledge and dialogue between cultures.
For more information, please visit ellipse art projects.
