Nigerian Breweries Plc and African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) are pleased to announce the Call for Entries for the ninth edition of the National Art Competition, entitled Shifting Boundaries.
The National Art Competition aims to promote the conceptual development of contemporary art in Nigeria with the mission of raising awareness on relevant social issues through the use of creative artistic expression. In its eight-year span, the National Art Competition has showcased emerging talent in such diverse mediums as painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, installation, and video art.
With a focus on the processes of artistic creation, artists are asked to submit a proposal for an unrealized work. After collection of entries, twelve finalists are invited to take part in a week-long artist retreat in Lagos, where workshops will be conducted by leading art professionals to assist finalists enhance the conceptual thread of their proposal. Finalists are then given a stipend for the production of their work.
This year’s theme Shifting Boundaries is an exploration of the porous, situational, and ever changing concept of the boundary through artworks that will discuss and embody what a boundary was, is, and will become in the 21st century. While we most often associate boundaries with geographical bodies and land masses, the term is applicable to many other areas as we begin to think about personal boundaries, symbolic boundaries, boundaries of time and space. The internet has also redefined and further democratised our ideas of what constitutes a boundary. Just as well as a boundary keeps things, people, and lands separated it also keeps these bodies together –creating unity and community in some situations and havoc and chaos in others.
Shifting Boundaries is a discussion on all of these aspects, and encourages artists and makers of the country to especially question and manifest through their work what a boundary means to them with an emphasis on the shifts, changes, and transformations, that influence the boundaries of our modern world. While a shift or change in boundaries can be as minuscule as a shift in attitude or as devastating as a shift in geographical borders, the inherent root of the issue deals with change and a compliance or resistance that goes along with it. Often neglected within this discourse is the shifting boundaries within locales. It has been suggested that we are coming upon the end of Western Civilization, a debate that is suggestive of both the relativeness of what the ‘West’ is and also the conglomeration of a unified, boundary less, dominant society as opposed to our antiquated and exoticized models of the East and West. Globalization, the Internet, and increasingly powerful communication technology, become key instigators as boundaries change and transform. They play a pivotal role in this cultural phenomenon, as we see distances separated by hundreds of miles converted into media and communicated in just a matter of seconds essentially making a boundary nonexistent. As boundaries rapidly shift and in some instances cease to exist, we also ask the artist to explore the concept in ways that we’ve yet to fathom particularly when exploring the dichotomy of boundaries we can physically realize and see as opposed to those that are conceptual. The sea in itself being one of the most arduous geographical boundaries to cross but also historically speaking one of the most invaluable vehicles of cultural transmission. We find a similar comparison in the boundaries and limitations imposed by gender, race, and sexuality. Artists are asked to create works that reconcile, deconstruct, and develop the works around the theme Shifting Boundaries that address contemporary world especially as it relates to the nation, state, and society. Are we truly entering a boundary less moment, or are boundaries becoming more closed than ever.
The competition includes a cash prize of Two Million Naira for the Grand winner and provides the artist with national and international exposure and exhibition opportunities and a cash prize of One Million Naira each for both winners of Outstanding Production and Outstanding Concept.
This year’s competition is open to all mediums. Only proposals will be accepted, completed or existing artwork will be disqualified. All entries should be sent as a pdf attachment to: nac2016@africanartists.org
Deadline for submission of work – September 25, 2016. For more information, please visit:
http://www.nationalartcompetition.org
