
The ellipse Prize is an art competition established by ellipse art projects to highlight artistic creation on French territory focussing on a different country in each edition.
The goal of this project is to support collective awareness about the surrounding environment using messages conveyed by artists. Art is fundamental to deal with essential subjects. Improving access to culture for as many as possible is a means of sensibility and innovation awakening.
The ellipse Prize wants to help artists mobility to share their work and to upgrade their creative thinking with meetings with other like-minded creators from different cultures. It’s crucial to support them in a more globalised world where economic and social disparities are growing.
Across this program, ellipse art projects is committed to facilitate an artist to gain access to international networks through an exhibition in France every year.

Call for applications opens until April 30, 2023
After Senegal and Ivory Coast, the ellipse prize continues to follow the west coast of the African continent by dedicating its third edition to Togo.
_visuals © Keren Lasme
FAQ
To register for the competition, candidates must fill out the dedicated form here.
An administrative as well as an artistic part, composed of a portfolio and an exhibition project (in link with the theme “dreamy memory”) are required.
Each candidate can submit only one project in this operation.
The winner of this third edition benefits from:
- an exhibition on the ellipse art projects booth at the international art fair AKAA 2023 in Paris (October, 20-22) including visa, transport fees, housing, per diem and production grant according to the artist’s project
- two double pages dedicated in an art book published on the occasion of the AKAA fair
- a tailored accompaniement through advices and meetings with professionals
- a communication campaign allowing visibility in the press and in the specialized medias
The transport costs for the artworks are borne by the fund.
The winning artist must imperatively obtain a passport by asking the competent authorities or be in possession of a passport valid until February 2024.
A visa application is also to be initiated as soon as possible upon appointment at the consulate.
The ellipse art projects team supports each stage, from the logistics to the reception and the well-being of the artist.
Eligible artists must not be represented (contracted) by a gallery that participates to international events such as fair, biennial and salon.
On the other hand, their work may have been exhibited locally as well as abroad.
The eligibility of candidates remains at the discretion of the jury who determines if the candidate has a real need for professional support to which the ellipse prize can meet.
This third edition is open to African artists residing in Togo as well as Togolese artists living on the African continent.
The candidates must justify their identity and place of residence to participate to the competition by submitting an invoice or other document including the first, second name and address of the candidate.
This third edition is open to every Togolese artists residing in a country of the African continent.
The candidates must justify their identity and place of residence to participate to the competition by submitting an invoice or other document including the first, second name and address of the candidate.
At the end of the call for applications (April 30, 2023), the files are submitted to a jury made up of 5 Franco-Togolese professionals.
Find out the list here.
For the finalists as well as the winner, a communication campaign follows all the stages of the competition giving them high visibility in the medias and specialized press.
A double page is also dedicated to each finalists in the art book published on the occasion of the AKAA fair.
The portfolio is a requested document to be provided in the artistic part of the form. Without it, your application will be considerate incomplete, thereby not studied.
This file constitutes for the jury an overview of the artist’s work through the presentation of 5 to 10 works.
In this pdf, each artwork must be presented with the following elements:
- high definition visuals (from 1 to 3 per artwork)
- title
- date of creation
- dimensions (cm)
- technique
- presentation text
* A portfolio example can be found here
The exhibition project is a requested document, to be provided in the artistic part of the form. Without it, your application will be considerate incomplete, thereby not studied.
Your exhibition project is intended to be produced and exposed, if you are the winner, on the ellipse art projects booth at the 2023 AKAA fair.
This exhibition project can be composed of existing artworks, presented in your portfolio ; and/or future creations planned and produced for this purpose. The future artworks must be explained and provided with a detailed production retroplanning. Visuals and texts should illustrate the proposal.
The project must be inspired by the theme “Dreamy memory” of which the definition can be found here.
The feasibility of the project, both aesthetically and technically, is decisive. It must respect the specificities of a 20 m2 booth made of 3 meter high walls that can support loads of 15 to 20 kg per linear meter.
A list of the material needed for the hanging has to be provided.
You can contact us directly on our social medias (Instagram @ellipseartprojects) by private message or by email at the following address: contact@ellipseartprojects.org
We will respond as soon as possible.