To showcase different perspectives on how the COVID19 pandemic has affected the African continent, and to evaluate and propose artistic positions in handling the reality of the pandemic, a call has gone out to writers and visual artists to submit entries for the 2021 edition of the SABAA art award.
Sabaa Art Award 2021 is an initiative from Sabaa. Education is in partnership with the Fashviart and Lagos-Paris-Art platform and is themed “Pandemic Voices from Sub-Saharan Africa.”
According to a statement from the organizers of the award, the entries should be in the categories of a photo, illustration, painting, short story, a chapter of a novel, and poem to artistically reflect upon the individual experiences and effects of the Covid-19-Pandemic in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Every two years SABAA announces an art award. This time in the categories of photo, illustration, painting, short story, a chapter of a novel, poem to artistically reflect upon the special and individual experiences and effects of the Covid-19-Pandemic in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa in order to frame and reframe, to showcase, inform, evaluate, sustain, facilitate, inspire. And to propose artistic positions in handling our today’s reality” the statement said.
The awards will be in two categories, a jury judged award and an audience determined award. For the Jury awards the category is open to Photo in an artistic approach, illustration which can be either in print, drawing or comic and painting.
In the writing category, it is open to literature which can be in form of a short story, a chapter of a novel, or a poem in not more than 10000 words and is open to both English and French writers.
In the Audience voting awards category, the award is open for entries in Photo, Illustration, and Painting. The application opened on the 20th of February and will close on the 15th of May 2021.
The winners of the jury-based category will be announced on the 10th of July 2021 while voting in the audience judged category will open from July 10-30, 2021, the awards proper in the two categories will take place on August 25, 2021.
This will be followed by an exhibition both online and offline. The online exhibition will take place in September 2021 while the offline exhibition will take place in November 2021.
