Forty Years Later, Absa L’Atelier Art Keeps Elevating and Shining Light on Pan-African Creativity.
Established in 1986, Absa L’Atelier Art continues to shine a light on Africa’s rich artistic creativity. The Pan-African competition, a partnership between Absa and SANAVA, has provided a powerful platform for emerging artists with opportunities for their professional development through mentorships and masterclasses, increased visibility, and career advancement through awards, once-in-a-lifetime residencies, and coveted solo exhibition shows that empower artists to explore personal narratives and contemporary issues. Absa L’Atelier Art continues to nurture artistic excellence, elevate African voices, and contribute to the growth of the continent’s cultural economy.
Opening doors to a new adventure, the Absa L’Atelier Art brand is growing and adding more art-focused events that connect people with opportunities to engage with African urban cultures, people, and art. Known for launching careers by supporting emerging artists with their exhibitions, Absa L’Atelier Art celebrates forty years of brand excellence by hosting the Forty Doors Absa L’Atelier Art Legacy event on the 12th of September 2026 at Nine Yards Johannesburg. The Forty Doors Absa L’Atelier Art Legacy event will showcase African art from around the continent. The Forty Doors will feature art that speaks to African heritage, diverse traditions, and indigenous art. The Forty Doors Absa L’Atelier Art Legacy celebration is designed to illustrate the importance of the Absa L’Atelier Art competition to the African artist community.
Artists have used the platform as a launchpad for their careers; after 40 years, Absa L’Atelier Art has evolved into a culture-setting platform with a variety of lifestyle and art shows. The highly anticipated Absa L’Atelier Art and Lifestyle fair returns on the 10th of October 2026, hosted at the Waterfall City Park in Midrand. The L’Atelier Art and Lifestyle fair is an annual outdoor family event that celebrates contemporary Pan-African visual art with interactive craft activities, food from stalls, and dedicated family spaces featuring live music performances by prominent local musicians and artists.
As is tradition every year, the prestigious Absa L’Atelier Art competition’s top continental finalists showcase their work at the fair, and the competition winners are announced at the Absa L’Atelier Art and Lifestyle fair. The competition winners receive the title of Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassador or the coveted Absa L’Atelier Art Gerald Sekoto award. Added to the prizes is the option to host a solo exhibition within two years of winning. The winners are awarded up to R100 000 for material costs toward the exhibition, with the majority of the proceeds going to the artist. The platform gives some winners the opportunity to receive mentorship, guidance and an international residency trip abroad that can help shape their art going forward.
Speaking on marking forty years since the establishment of Absa L’Atelier Art, Senior Art and Museum Curator at Absa Group. Dr Paul Bayliss, PhD: “Absa L’Atelier Art’s aim is to continue putting African art on the global map by transforming emerging artists into professional, earning artists, paying tribute to African culture by telling stories that provoke an invitation to ask questions and learn more about Africa and its history and society. This brand wants to create an ecosystem that sustains art and fosters a progressive lifestyle, and the events that centre art. The Absa L’Atelier Art events for this year are a step in the right direction for the brand.
This year, Absa L’Atelier Art has proven to be a household brand that will continue to transform the cultural landscape of African art and create space for artists’ work to be seen and celebrated. This started with a solo exhibition for the Absa L’Atelier 2024 award winner, Lusanda Ndita’s ‘Indlela ibomvu’ exhibition. Opening in June in partnership with Gallery MOMO, IFAS and the French Embassy in South Africa, this marked the beginning of a series of exhibitions and artistic engagements that will showcase the work of exceptional African art across the continent throughout the year. Next was Kutlwano Monyai, our 2024 Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassador, who explores the art of practicing gratitude in times of loss and uncertainty with ‘Dakalo – The Ultimate Gift.’, opening at Gallery MOMO on 18 July 2026.
Next on the calendar was 05 August 2026 at the infamous Association for Visual Arts (AVA) Gallery, in Cape Town, with an emotional exhibit titled ‘Terrains of Memory’ by the distinguished 2021 Absa L’Atelier Art winner Dr Ayobola Kekere-Ekun, from Lagos (Nigeria). ‘Terrains of Memory’ explored themes such as how life events affect memory, how to heal trauma, how gender dynamics are constructed, and how social power amplifies these dynamics. Illustrations of these themes are depicted in fabric and folds that become a way to think through growth; Kekere-Ekun shows how living is a complicated process accompanied by our experiences and memories that shape us.
In true Absa L’Atelier Art fashion, the exhibits will move to West Africa to feature solo exhibitions from the 2024 Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassador winners: Moses Oyeleye from Nigeria and Ezra Appiah from Ghana. Moses, a Lagos-based visual artist, creates portraits and pictorial compositions using ballpoint pen and acrylic; his works convey his perspectives on emotional resilience and the layered nature of human experiences in his first solo exhibit as an Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassador in September 2026 at the Alliance Française in Lagos. Contemporary mixed‑media artist Ezra, based in Kumasi, gets an opportunity to share his voice and showcase his social commentary on mental health and the untold stories of modern Ghanaian life in November 2026 at The Mix Design Hub in Accra.
In addition to these solo exhibitions, Absa L’Atelier Art will host a series of informative art masterclasses across African cities. The Masterclasses are designed to focus on all aspects of art. The Absa L’Atelier Art Artists’ Masterclasses are designed to benefit artists’ careers by opening up discussions focused on the business of art, ways for artists to build a lasting brand, and how best to manage their careers. Established and aspiring art buyers and art investors will gain insight into the evolution of art on the continent and how social media and everyday life influence it. The masterclasses are a strategic initiative aimed at providing education and networking opportunities for those interested in the art industry.
Looking ahead to 2027, Absa L’Atelier Art plans to continue growing and establishing life-changing careers for artists in Africa through empowerment, support, and exposure of their work to art lovers.
