Absa L’Atelier 2026 Competition for Artists.

The Absa L’Atelier competition, through its prizes, focuses on how best to support the artist in growing their brand and in equipping artists with the relevant skills needed to build their careers. The Absa L’Atelier also gives artists opportunities to build their network and collaborate in their art practice, while providing them with an unique platform that would best position them within the visual arts industry.

Competition format

• There are 12 countries that qualify to take part in the Absa L’Atelier (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia).
• After the entry closing date, the 12 countries are randomly divided into three groups of four countries each.
• Artists in each group compete against one another.
• There’s no competition among the three groups – artists compete within their own group only.
• Artists are required to submit one entry, which consists of a portfolio of work of a minimum of four and a maximum of five artworks. Submission of fewer than four artworks will result in the artist’s immediate disqualification.
• Each group of four countries have a different group of adjudicators.
• A single winner will be selected from each of the three groups of four countries (i.e. one winner from Group A, one winner from Group B and one winner from Group C).
• Absa has the right to exhibit artworks from each of the winners after they are announced.
• The winner of each group is referred to as an Absa L’Atelier Ambassador.

Benefits

There are two sets of prizes for the 2026 Absa L’Atelier Award winners:

• The main prize, which is awarded to the three Absa L’Atelier Ambassadors; and
• The second prize, which is the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award, for a South African entrant who continues to demonstrate growth in their art production.

Main prize

The winners will take up their prizes concurrently. The winner (Ambassador) from each of the three groups will receive the following:

1. A new laptop or equivalent with Windows and an MS Office package installed.
2. A total of 11 two-hour masterclasses, either virtually or in-person, from leading global authorities over a three-month period from May to July 2027. The topics covered through the masterclasses include:
   1. Mental wellness: Understanding mental health and how to deal with it;
   2. Financial wellness: Budgeting and managing your finances;
   3. Legal wellbeing: The importance of contracts, wills and trusts;
   4. The art of negotiation and conflict resolution;
   5. Studio practice;
   6. Media training and presence, and social media audience development and public relations;
   7. Building and managing an art portfolio;
   8. Fundraising and proposal writing;
   9. Art professionalism: Developing your career and building your brand as an artist;
   10. Artist residencies and how they can benefit your career; and
   11. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
3. A four-month mentorship with a leading authority in the visual arts from their respective country. The mentorship programme will take place from June to September 2027.
4. The year after being awarded the prize, a concurrent two-month international residency with the Kromdraai Impact Hub in South Africa in 2027. The residency programme runs from 11 May to 11 July 2027.While in residency, the three Ambassadors:
   • Will be introduced to South Africa’s art and cultural scene;
   • Have the option to produce an artwork that will be converted into an NFT; and
   • Produce a limited body of artworks for a pop-up exhibition on the last weekend of their residency.
5. The option to host a solo exhibition within two years of winning the award (i.e. those who win in 2026, will have to exhibit by 2028). The exhibition will take place in the artist’s home country, at the Absa Gallery or at an alternative venue as decided on by Absa and its partners. The Ambassador attends the exhibition opening and is awarded up to R100 000 for material costs towards the exhibition. All artworks must be available for sale with the majority of the proceeds going to the artist.
   
   The masterclasses, mentoring and residency are to take place in 2027, as per the dates indicated above.

Notes

• All entrants must possess a valid passport at the time of entering the competition. The passport must be valid until 31 December 2026, to allow timely travel arrangements to the Art Fair in South Africa, if selected as one of the finalists.
• Finalists will be responsible for applying for their own travel visas upon being notified of their finalist status. Finalists will be reimbursed for the cost of their Visa on receipt of a valid invoice accompanied with supporting slips confirming payment thereof.
• If a winner elects not to accept the award or any part thereof and/or is unable to accept same for any reason whatsoever, such prize may, at the discretion of the sponsors, be offered to one of the other participants, with the result that the refusing winner will not receive the prize and/or any part thereof.
• The prize and/or any part thereof may not be exchanged for cash and/or payment in kind.
• On announcement of them winning the prize, the artist will be required to sign a contract with Absa and/or its partners for the duration of completing and/or participating in the activities included in the prize.
• Each candidate accepts all terms and conditions of entry, and by entering, they acknowledge having read, understood and thus accepted such terms and conditions of submission of their entry to the competition.

Gerard Sekoto Award

The Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award is open to any South African artist aged between 25 and 35 years. This award is made possible by IFAS and the French Embassy in South Africa, in partnership with Absa and SANAVA. To qualify, an entrant must be a permanent South African citizen and be permanently residing in South Africa.

The award comprises:

1. A three-month residency, from April to June in 2027, at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France, including return airfare from South Africa to Paris, a daily stipend while in Paris and return transport between the artist’s place of residence in South Africa and the airport.
2. A solo exhibition with a partner gallery in Johannesburg in 2028. Absa will cover the material and framing costs for this exhibition up to a maximum value of R100 000.
3. Three virtual masterclasses, covering:
   1. Mental wellness: Understanding mental health and how to deal with it;
   2. Financial wellness: Budgeting and managing your finances; and
   3. Legal wellbeing: The importance of contracts, wills and trusts.

Notes

• On announcement of them winning the prize, the artist will be required to sign a contract with Absa and/or its partners for the duration of completing and/or participating in the activities included in the prize.
• Winners have to take up the residency in the year following their receipt of the award and during the period in which it is offered, i.e. 1 May to 31 July 2027. Winners may not defer it to an alternative date.
• The award recipient is required to be physically present for the opening of their exhibition. Absa will cover all travel expenses to get them to the opening, on the condition that they reside in South Africa at the time.
• If the winner elects not to accept the award or any part thereof and/or is unable to accept same for any reason whatsoever, such prize may at the discretion of the sponsors be offered to one of the other participants, with the result that the refusing winner will not receive the prize and/or any part thereof.
• The prize and/or any part thereof may not be exchanged for cash and/or payment in kind.

Requirements

• The competition is open to all artists who are not younger than 21 and not older than 40 on 31 March 2026. In the case of art students, only final-year students who meet the age requirements may participate.
• All prize winners will be required to take up the prize as per the date mentioned in the entry details.
• Only artists who are citizens or have been granted permanent residency and are permanently residing in South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Botswana, Uganda, Mozambique, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Nigeria or Namibia may enter the competition.
• All airfares to an artist’s exhibition opening and/or residency forms part of their prize and is only from and back to their resident country. If they need to travel from any other location, they’d be responsible for paying the difference in what it would have cost to fly them from their home country.
• If information is not captured accurately on the system and any information is missing from the online registration, the entrant will automatically be disqualified.

Entry conditions

Entries

• All entry details of the artist and artwork must be submitted on the Absa L’Atelier online competition portal.
• All fields must be completed when submitting an entry.
• Any field left blank will result in automatic disqualification of the entry.
• Adjudication for each submitted entry is done via the online portal.

Which works may be entered?

• Only one entry per artist is allowed.
• Each entry consists of a body of artwork, with a minimum of four and a maximum of five artworks.
• All artworks must be uploaded via the Absa L’Atelier online platform.
• The artworks must have been completed in the 12 months before the competition’s closing date
• Only original artworks by the artist may be entered.

• Artwork subject to the following requirements:
  • A single artwork and its frame (including sculptures and works consisting of several parts) must not be larger than 2m x 2m.
  • No installation artwork may be entered.
  • No video work may be entered.
  • No artwork will be accepted that incites hate speech, propaganda or violence against race, creed, gender or sexual orientation.
  • No artwork compiled by more than one entrant will be accepted.
  • No performance art will be accepted.
  • All artworks must be exhibition ready. If an entrant’s artworks are selected, they must immediately be ready for transport to the Absa Gallery.
  • Any artwork that is partially or entirely produced using artificial intelligence (AI) will result in automatic disqualification of the artist.

Selection Process

How winners are selected

Adjudication process

• The Absa L’Atelier art competition sets the stage for the four annual prize winners to promote their work by exhibiting at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• The competition is open to anyone aged between 21 and 40 years. All artists, those with formal training as well as those who are self-taught, are given an equal opportunity to participate.
• Adjudication of all submitted artworks is done by an independent panel of adjudicators appointed by the Absa L’Atelier partners, namely Absa and SANAVA.
• The adjudicators for the Gerard Sekoto Award are appointed by IFAS and the French Embassy in South Africa.
• Each adjudicator is chosen for their particular field of expertise within the visual arts, including sculpture, painting, digital, printmaking and so forth, and each contributes to the assessment of what is deemed to be quality.
• Adjudication criteria revolve around matters of technical execution, conceptual and thematic engagement, freshness of artistic vision within the context of African contemporary art and, finally (and probably the most difficult element), aesthetic appeal.
• The adjudication for the Gerard Sekoto Award will be based on the artist’s submitted body of artworks and their CV. Through their CV, the artist must have demonstrated a willingness to grow and develop themselves as an artist, using the opportunities provided to them (e.g. participation in group and solo exhibitions, previously having entered the Absa L’Atelier and participation on other art platforms).

Method of Application

Click Here to Apply

Queries

Please email the Absa L’Atelier team at gallery@absa.co.za

For More Information,

Visit the Official Webpage

Application Deadline: May 12, 2026.