In March 2022 Bag Factory Artists’ Studios released an open call welcoming applications for the 2022 David Koloane Award.
Due to unforeseen technical difficulties with the application process we did not receive all of the applications submitted. Due to time and capacity constraints we have therefore made the difficult decision to postpone the award to next year. Applications for the 2023 David Koloane Award will open on Wednesday 1 February 2023 and close on 31 March 2023. The residency will take place from 1 June to 31 August 2023. This will allow for a fair application and adjudication process. We do apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment caused especially to applicants whose applications we did not receive. We encourage all artists who submitted their applications to reapply next year. *To accommodate those artists aged 35 who applied this year, we will extend the age restriction for next year’s award to 36.
The award is open to emerging contemporary visual South African-based artists (aged 21-35* and not represented by a commercial gallery) working in the fields of painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, digital, video, and performance-based art.
This annual award was initiated in 2010 to celebrate the life and career of Dr David Koloane (b.1938-2019), internationally respected artist, curator, writer and founding member of the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios. In honour of David Koloane’s contribution to developing the arts industry through his ethos of mentorship and learning through exchange, the David Koloane Award benefits emerging artists who demonstrate passion, dedication, and potential for excellence.
Recipients will receive an intensive three-month residency at the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, including studio space, materials stipend, mentorship from the Bag Factory and established artists, culminating in a solo exhibition of a new body of work in the Bag Factory gallery.
ABOUT THE BAG FACTORY
The Bag Factory is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation in Newtown, Johannesburg. With a pioneering 30-year history of providing a supportive infrastructure for artists, the Bag Factory is unique in combining art making with cultural debate and art exhibitions, thereby creating a fertile international environment for experimentation, innovation, and cultural dialogue between creatives in South Africa and the rest of the world. We provide studio space to a cross-generational community of Johannesburg based artists, and we host a prestigious international artist and curator residency programme.
We present regular exhibitions in our gallery that showcase new work by emerging artists to the wider public, and we also support the professional development of artists and curators through workshops, mentorship, and the prestigious David Koloane and Cassirer Welz awards. All our programmes are accompanied by a public programme that encourages greater understanding of contemporary visual art and stimulates interaction between artists and the local community. We are affiliated with the international Triangle Network.