Tanka Fonta wins the Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize 2026

Tanka Fonta has been awarded the Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize 2026, a biennial commission by AKB Stiftung and SAVVY Contemporary, established in 2021 to support artists of colour based in Germany.

Fonta was selected from a shortlist including Jessica Ekomane, Nnenna Onuoha, Lerato Shadi, and Sarnt Utamachote. He is recognized for his multidisciplinary practice spanning visual arts, sound, and philosophy, and for a body of work that explores perception, consciousness, and the resonances of memory.

The jury—Alya Sebti, Antje Majewski, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Mirjami Schuppert, and Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock—commented:

“Tanka Fonta’s work unfolds across time and space, combining image, sound, and poetic gestures. It creates spaces of connection and reflection, attuned to subtle frequencies, ancestral memory, and living presence. His practice is a mode of understanding the worlds we inhabit.”

Born in Buea, Cameroon in 1966, Tanka Fonta has exhibited internationally, including Philosophies of Being, Perception, and Expressivity of Being, a major installation at the 36th Fundação Bienal de São Paulo in 2025. Other notable works include The Cosmogenic Interconnectedness: How Did We Talk Before the Roman Alphabet (2023), a commissioned mural in the Sylvia Wynter Foyer at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, and exhibitions at SAVVY Contemporary, Kunstverein Hannover, Goodman Gallery Cape Town, as well as institutions in Canada, the USA, and Cameroon.

On receiving the prize, Fonta said:

“Receiving the Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize is an honour. It opens a space for new creative possibilities and dialogue, allowing reflection, transformation, and the shaping of shared cultural landscapes. I am grateful to SAVVY Contemporary and AKB Stiftung for this support.”

The prize includes a one-year working grant of 30,000 EUR, funds for the creation of a series of new works, and curatorial support. The commission is planned for presentation at SAVVY Contemporary before travelling to another venue. Previous recipients are Jean-Ulrick Désert (2022) and Setareh Shahbazi (2024).

savvy-contemporary.com