ellipse prize
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.
Dedicated to the emerging art scene of a new territory, an announcement will be made at the beginning of the next year with all the required information for artists to prepare their application.
For your information, the criteria, endowment, calendar and 2022 jury remain available below.
The applications call is open to :
- every African artists based in Ivory Coast
- aged between 18 and 40 at application closing date (28th May 2022)
- whose practice is dedicated to visual arts
- not represented by a gallery which participates to international events like fairs, but can have been exhibited previously on the local plan
To apply, candidates must fill in the application form made up of :
- an administrative part : general informations
- an artistic part : portfolio, with no thematic requirement, and exhibition project aimed to the AKAA fair adapted to a 20 m2 booth
Selection in two stages by an international, professional jury :
- first stage : selection of five artists
- second stage : selected artists advocate for their project through videoconferencing and the announcement of the winner
Portfolios and exhibition projects are reviewed strictly according to the achievement’s quality, the innovative aspect, and the theme respect.
The feasibility criteria of the project adapted to a booth format is also decisive.
See the competition rules below for more informations
The winner benefits from :
- An exhibition on the ellipse art projects booth during the international art fair AKAA – Also Know As Africa in Paris from October the 20th to the 23th 2022
- Two double pages dedicated to their work in a new art book edited for the AKAA fair occasion
This program is made up of :
- a round trip ticket from Abidjan to Paris (including VISA and travel insurance)
- An accommodation in Paris in October 2022 from the 15th to the 30th including a grant for food and transport spents
- a professional and artistic support
- a media campaign to support every step of the competition giving high visibility to candidates
- Applications call – from April the 1st to May the 28th (before midnight, 11:59 pm)
- First jury meeting : five artists short-listed – mid-June
- Second jury meeting : selected artists advocate for their project through videoconferencing – mid-June
- Announcement of the winner – end of June
- Stay in Paris – from October the 15th to the 30th
- Exhibition at AKAA – Also Known As Africa – from October the 20th to the 23th
*Dates may be subject to change depending on Covid sanitary crisis and to general measures announced by the French and the Ivorian governments.
- Victoria Mann – Director-Founder of the AKAA – ALSO KNOWN AS AFRICA fair
- Bénédicte Alliot – Director of the Cité internationale des arts in Paris
- Gazelle Guirandou – Director and Cofounder of the LouiSimone Guirandou gallery
- Isabelle Zongo – Collector, Director-Founder of the Original Foundation
- Auguste Errol Mimi – Art critic and curator
- Jems Koko Bi – Sculptor and performer