THE BLESSING NGOBENI ART PRIZE
The Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize is an award that is aimed at assisting young and emerging visual artists to launch their careers in the art industry. The award acknowledges excellence in emerging artists (under 35) specialising in sculpture, drawing and painting, or mixed media and provides an opportunity to showcase their talents to a broader audience. The Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize provides the nominated artist with a twelve-week studio residency and solo exhibition at the Everard Read Gallery Johannesburg. The artist will be provided with studio space, materials budget and a stipend for the three months of residency.
In collaboration with the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, artist Blessing Ngobeni established the Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize in response to the positive impact on his career after he won the Cassirer Welz residency award at the Bag Factory in 2012, which culminated in a solo exhibition at Everard Read Gallery who now represent the artist. An art prize of this nature serves as a platform for encouraging an artist is to transcend limitations within their craft much like Blessing Ngobeni.
Now in its seventh year The Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize (BNAP) has established itself as a community-based organization. We endeavour to provide pathways and opportunities for young emerging artist to start their art careers. We found that many artists in South Africa find it very difficult to maintain their art careers because they cannot make a living from it. This unfortunately makes many of them give up on art and many talents are lost. BNAP aims to show artists that there are many opportunities in the art industry. Artists exist because there are support structures around them, such as galleries, project spaces, mentorship programs and residencies. BNAP introduces these young artists to these possibilities and advice on how to make the most out of these opportunities. We aim to provide and grant the artists access to so much more, from extending the residency internationally, collaborating with galleries around South Africa to coordinate group shows for emerging artists and participating in art fairs. This will hopefully diversify the art industry and thus create strong networks between artist, art businesses and other organizations.
Thus far we have liaised with Everard Read Art Gallery, Aspire Art Auctions, Bag Factory, Infra – Afrika Advisory, Ellis House Art Building , Nyko Enterprise, Boschendal and Art Lefatshe Fine Art consultancy and development agency.
Theme: FROM THE MARGINS TO THE CENTRE
Our theme seeks to recentre voices, narratives, and artistic practices that have historically existed outside dominant cultural spaces. We invite artists to challenge, disrupt, and reimagine the boundaries of visibility, power, access, and representation. This is an opportunity to illuminate stories that have shaped our communities from the edges—and bring them boldly into focus.
The artist is expected to:
- Attend bi-weekly meetings with the administrators of the Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize.
- Produce new and exciting works for a solo exhibition at the Everard Read gallery.
- Complete a written report on completion of the residency.
- Arrive on time and stay for the full period (12 weeks).
- Participated on workshops that will be coordinated for the residency.
- Work from the studio that will be provided.
- Attend events coordinated or suggested by the BNAP team.
Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize provides the winning artist with:
- A 3-months furnished studio space at Ellis House Art Building in Johannesburg.
- A twelve-week studio residency in Johannesburg from 1 June – 31 August 2026.
- Mentorship from industry experts.
- Access to a curated program of workshops.
- A solo exhibition at Everard Read Gallery Johannesburg .
- A materials budget for art production while in residence.
- A monthly living stipend.
JSE Art Collection Acquisition.
- Shortlisted artists will be invited to present their work in a group exhibition at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
- Group exhibition finalists stand a chance of their work being acquired for the JSE Art Collection.
Selection Criteria
Artists will be reviewed based on:
- Conceptual strength
- Originality of proposed project
- Technical execution
- Relevance to the anniversary theme or the Foundation’s vision
- Feasibility of presentation
- Winning artists must be willing to commit and avail themselves for the full duration of their residency, 3- months.Winning artists will be expected to attend workshops and write a detailed report at the end of their residency.
APPLY HERE