Gallery 1957 announces the fourth edition of The Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize, an art prize dedicated to women artists living and working in Ghana and its diaspora. Named after the prominent Ghanaian Queen Mother, the prize aligns with their mission to support and uplift emerging and established artists.

The prize is open exclusively to Ghanaian women artists either living in Ghana or across its diaspora. In the future, we look forward to expanding the prize to include all African and African diaspora identifying artists.

The gallery was proud to present Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah as the 2023 recipient of the Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize. Arde-Acquah creates hand drawings of intricate monochrome patterns on various surfaces such as paper and canvas. Her practicing medium has evolved into cutting out these patterns from black synthetic leather, creating immersive sculptural installations that expose an interplay between routine tasks and emerging ritualised performance. The first runner up was filmmaker Nuotama Frances Bodomo and the second runner up was multidisciplinary artist Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah.

The winners of this year’s prize will be selected by a jury of international experts. This years jury consists of, Godfried Donkor, Multidisciplinary Artist; Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair; Ekow Eshun, Writer and Curator; Margaux Huille, Director of Fondation H; Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa and Founding Artistic Director of RAW Material Company; and Marie-Cécile Zinsou, Art Historian, Curator, Author and Founder of Fondation Zinsou.

The first prize winner will receive an artist residency and exhibition at Gallery 1957, as well as GH₵50,000. First runner up will be awarded GH₵30,000 and second runner-up will receive GH₵20,000.

Application requirements include an artist bio and statement: A bio of up to 200 words telling who you are, where you are from, where you live, where you have schooled (schooling does not have to be formal or directly related to art) and a concise story of your artistic journey. A portfolio of up to 6 high resolution photos/videos/media links of applicant’s artworks including a full caption of the title, date, medium and measurements.

Submissions should be sent via email to applications@gallery1957.com and applicants may contact Tatyana at tatyana@gallery1957.com with any queries.

The deadline for applications is 16th September 2024 with the winners announced in October.

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