Guest Artist Space Foundation (G.A.S.) and Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) are delighted to announce a call out for the second edition of the annual G.A.S. Fellowship Award. Three funded 6-8 week residencies will be offered to practitioners based in West Africa between September 2023 and March 2024 with two taking place in Lagos and one at our sister location on the G.A.S. Ecology Green Farm in Ijebu.

The Foundation is committed to facilitating multidisciplinary access to this opportunity therefore, applications are welcome from individuals practicing in all relevant creative fields that could range from visual art, craft, architecture, design, and curatorial research.

The sophomore edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award is generously supported by Still Earth Holdings and the Foundation’s Residency Patrons. Each fellowship is fully funded offering room and board, return travel expenses to Lagos, a stipend of 100,000 NGN per week, a total materials allowance of 100,000 NGN, and access to a range of resources and pastoral support.

This second edition of the prestigious award particularly welcomes applications from emerging practitioners and those whose practice is rooted in or responds to the following areas:

• Materiality: the exploration and use of matter, materials used in the creation, and formation of artwork
• History in the Present: using historical materials to rethink the present (archives, objects/image collections, storytelling aural/written)
• Ecology, Food and Environment: those exploring climate impact, social justice, food production, and works in the natural world

The call-out is careful to prioritise accessibility by staying open to all creative fields, even within the framework of the outlined themes, so that those with less fortunate circumstances can apply and access the opportunity.

G.A.S. Foundation does not ask for any work in return for completing the residency but asks that the selected practitioners think about how they could contribute to the cultural life and public programme in either Lagos or Ijebu. The activation, which will be coordinated and supported by the
G.A.S. team in Lagos, will be dependent on the practice and experience of the selected applicant but could be anything from a masterclass, workshop, talk or event with students, peers or wider public.

The seven winners of the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award announced in February 2022 were Laeïla Adjovi, Sarafadeen Bello, Femi Johnson, Samuel Nnorom, Tobi Onabolu, Ofem Ubi, and Uzor Ugoala.
More information about the award including application details can be found here:

https://www.guestartistsspace.com/News/Open-Call-GAS-Fellowship-Award-2023

The deadline for applications is 13th August 2023.

ABOUT STILL EARTH HOLDINGS
Still Earth Holdings is a group of companies committed to creating value and impacting Africa’s development. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, our interests cut across Construction, Oil & Gas, and Financial Services. Our companies; Still Earth Limited, Still Earth Capital Finance, and Tirex
Petroleum & Energy, collectively represent our commitment to solving key infrastructure challenges, while sustainably improving lives and livelihoods in Africa.

ABOUT GUEST ARTISTS SPACE FOUNDATION

Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation is a Nigerian non-profit founded in 2019 by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA and an esteemed board of Directors. It delivers residency and public programmes across two sites located in Lagos and Ijebu. The multi-use live/work spaces host multidisciplinary artists, researchers and curators from all over the world in awarded residencies for up to three months. In Lagos, the Foundation is hosted in an award-winning building designed by Elsie Owusu in collaboration
with Nihinlola Shonibare. The secondary location designed by Papa Omotayo sits on a 54-acre working farm that produces crops ranging from yams and cassava to peppers and cashew.
The Foundation’s mission is underpinned by an ethos that strives to create a platform for creative and career development and knowledge exchange. Through the support of international partnerships,
G.A.S. hopes to break down traditional barriers of privilege, wealth and lack of infrastructure and provide opportunities for both participants and the local community. G.A.S. delivers its programmes
with oversight and support from UK registered charity Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Charity No.1183321).

Guest Artists Space Foundation would like to thank its Board of Trustees; Yinka Shonibare CBE RA;

Managing Principal of W8 Advisory, Adebimpe Nkontchou; entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of Art X Lagos, Tokini Peterside; Nigerian American artist and curator, Temitayo Ogunbiyi and Executive Director of VFD Group Plc, Adeniyi Adenubi and cultural entrepreneur Ugoma Ebilah. G.A.S. would also like to extend heartfelt thanks to our new Founding Patron the Executive Chairperson of Still Earth Holdings, Oyindamola Lami Adeyemi and our supporting advisors during the genesis of this exciting journey; Dudun Peterside, Jane Cohan, Stephen Friedman and Femi Lijadu.