Art Bridge Project

🚨 Open Call for Artists Apply for the 2026 edition of Beyond The Canvas centered around the theme: What Do You Hear? This simple yet provocative methodological question engages with the politics of visibility and invisibility in today’s world. It draws attention to the socio-political forces—both seen and unseen—that shape whose voices are amplified or erased, and how information is distributed and distorted in this age of technology. Artists are invited to propose innovative approaches to listening—to marginalized communities, political conditions, nature, archives, indigenous knowledge systems, and non-human entities. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ) and Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

Final call to apply for Beyond The Canvas 🚨 How can we envision a more humane world? How can contemporary art engage the public sphere beyond the white cube and institutional spaces? How can material and immaterial forces — water, soil, archives, digital technology, indigenous knowledge — become active agents in global conversations? And how might practices of care, refusal, opacity, and quietness be understood as deliberate artistic strategies, not signs of absence? Beyond The Canvas is conceived as a discursive arena—a space for listening, reflection, and shared knowledge production. The program responds to our lived realities animated by overlapping crises—social fragmentation, ecological issues, forced displacement and wars that may be geographically distant yet remain parallel realities. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ) and Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

Don’t miss out on this year’s edition of Beyond The Canvas. Pictured here are textile-based artworks by Ditiro Mashigo (@ditiro.mashigo ), a cohort of Beyond The Canvas’ 2023 Edition. Ditiro Mashigo is a South African artist, textile and fashion designer. Her work explores African aesthetics, memory, spirituality, cosmology and womanhood through fiber, painting, printing, and tactile sculpture. Her work lies at the intersection of art, fashion, and the critical analysis of African aesthetics. Speaking about her experience of Beyond The Canvas, @ditiro.mashigo said: “I used to think that the boundaries of creative thought and practice existed only within the neat confines of formal arts education. Through my engagement with the Art Bridge Project, I’ve come to realise that the African experience itself is a form of education—an innate gnosis that lives within my artistic expression.” Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ) and Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Images: 1/2 - “Kala”, 2022-2023 by Ditiro Mashigo. Repurposed textiles. Dimensions variable (installation view). Photograph by Zydia Botes 3 - Artist Testimonial 4 - “Perseverance o tswala Katlego”, 2023 by Ditiro Mashigo. Woven textile. Dimensions variable 5 - “Lutombo (Blue)”, 2025. Fabric paint, wool & cotton threads and pastels on brown board, and denim #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

Artist Spotlight :: Simon Richard Ojeaga (@simonrichardojeaga ) | Beyond The Canvas’ 2021 Cohort Over the years, Simon Ojeaga has developed a distinct visual language characterised by lyrical lines and figurative imagery. This translates into the artist’s exploration of the human body — delving into the anatomy, contours and gestures of the body. In doing so, Ojeaga addresses themes related to bodily sensations and movements, universal human conditions, and illustrating the full spectrum of emotions. Since participating in Beyond The Canvas, Ojeaga has garnered a local and international audience, exhibiting in galleries and art fairs in Nigeria, London and South Africa. He is currently represented by O’DA Gallery (@o.da_art ). Don’t miss out on this year’s edition of Beyond The Canvas. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ) and Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. Image: “Otuo Dance II”, 2025 by Simon Ojeaga #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

Jadesola “Jay” Olaniyan (@jaythefriendlygiant ) shares her experience of participating in Beyond The Canvas. Olaniyan was a cohort of the 2023 edition. “My experience with the “Beyond The Canvas” program was far beyond my expectations…I am mainly surprised by how rich the learning experience was and how much it shaped my worldview as an artist and as a person. Moving forward I feel much more confident within my practices and as a multidisciplinary artist.”, says @jaythefriendlygiant Olaniyan is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, sculpture, printmaking, and digital art. Her work explores self-identity and memory through the abstraction of natural subjects and landscapes. She incorporates motifs of animals, produce, and flowers which she uses to examine the complexities of her personal identity and relationships—memories, traumas, hopes, and tender moments that shape the human experience. Don’t miss out on this year’s edition of Beyond The Canvas. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ) and Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

Beyond The Canvas adopts an auditory perspective, proposing listening as both an artistic vehicle and an emancipatory practice. This expanded notion of listening draws from Listening to Images by Tina Campt; Quantum Listening by Pauline Oliveros; and Brandon LaBelle’s Sonic Agency, where listening is framed as an attunement to presences, relations, and the subtle forces that shape social and political life. Together, these theoretical works reposition listening as a mode of perception capable of revealing what exceeds visibility — the affective, the hidden, and the otherwise unheard. In the words of Trinh T. Minh-ha, “What you want to hear, you hear not. For what finds its way from the underground and the out there is spoken in rhythms and tones, in a language that solicits a different hearing.” This proposition resonates with Beyond The Canvas, where listening becomes an invitation to encounter what emerges at the margins of perception, and where practices of care, refusal, opacity, and quietness are understood as tactical strategies rather than signs of absence. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ), Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. Images: 1 - Listening to Images by #TinaCampt 2 - Quantum Listening by #PaulineOliveros 3 - Sonic Agency by #BrandonLaBelle (@b_llabelle ) #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

How can artistic practices respond to conditions of visibility and invisibility? The theme of Beyond The Canvas poses the question and provocation, WHAT DO YOU HEAR? This guiding framework invites artists to interrogate the politics of visibility and invisibility shaping today’s world. This open-ended question emerges in response to the conditions of our time, animated by overlapping crises: social fragmentation, ecological collapse, forced displacement, and ongoing wars that may be geographically distant yet remain emotionally and politically proximate. These realities shape worldviews — determining what we see and hear, and how information is circulated, mediated, and often distorted. Within this dissonant landscape, certain voices are persistently erased or rendered invisible, while others are repeatedly centred and made visible. Against this backdrop, Beyond The Canvas considers how artistic practices might respond to such conditions by collapsing the boundaries of visibility and invisibility, and by critically examining the ethics, risks, and consequences that accompany both conditions. Application Deadline: March 31 Facilitators: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ), Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ) Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. Images: ©️ The “I’m Tired” Project (@theiamtiredproject ) #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

Meet the Facilitators for this year’s edition of Beyond The Canvas :: Nnenna Okore (@nnennaokore ), Guillaume Breton (@ygrec_centredart ), Newsha Tavakolian (@newshatavakolian ). Through in-depth conversations grounded in their respective practices and professional experiences, our guest facilitators will furnish and guide selected participants toward broader ways of developing a cohesive artistic practice and translating ideas — from conceptualisation to realisation. Beyond The Canvas is designed as a discursive space for reflection, exchange, and shared knowledge production. We are particularly interested in artists working at the intersection of research, experimentation, and community or audience-participatory practices, whose work engages themes such as collective identity formation, ecological concerns, social change, urban life, and heritage. Artists are invited to propose innovative approaches to listening—to marginalized communities, political conditions, nature, archives, indigenous knowledge systems, and non-human entities. 🚨 Application Deadline: March 31 Visit /beyond-the-canvas to apply and learn more. #OpenCall #BeyondTheCanvas #ArtBridgeProject

In conversation with the Assistant Chief Monument Officer of the National Museum Lagos, Okechukwu Okalanwa, and Curator, Nkechi Adedeji, on museums as a convergence of art, spirituality, and memory. As part of the Anyanwu: The New Light documentary, we engaged key figures at the museum in a discussion about the significance of Ben Enwonwu’s monumental Anyanwu (1955–1956) sculpture, which adorns its façade. The conversation extended into a broader consideration of how museums preserve cultural heritage while shaping national consciousness and identity. Museums occupy a unique and powerful place in society. They are spaces where art ignites the imagination, where spirituality nourishes the soul, and where history grounds us in truth and collective memory. This conversation is an excerpt from Anyanwu: The New Light short documentary, produced in conjunction with the exhibition. Director: Anthony Ogochukwu Agbapuonwu (@tonyola_007 ) Cinematography: Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Director of Photography: Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Editor: Jochi Media (@jochi_photography_studios ) Stay tuned to our social media pages for updates on what’s next and our 2026 programmes. #AnyanwuTheNewLight #Anyanwu #IgboCosmology #IndigenousKnowledgeSystems

Journey with us to Onitsha, where we engaged with traditional chiefs and elders to reflect on the Igbo worldview—with focus on Onitsha’s cultural heritage. We spoke to Chief Chuka Ifejika, the Onoli Oguda of Onitsha, and Akunne Okechukwu Amuta, who shared deep insights into Igbo traditional masquerades—their meaning, their significance, and the urgency of sustaining our cultural and indigenous heritage in an age of accelerating globalisation. This conversation is an excerpt from Anyanwu: The New Light short documentary, produced in conjunction with the exhibition. Director: Anthony Ogochukwu Agbapuonwu (@tonyola_007 ) Cinematography: Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Director of Photography: Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Editor: Jochi Media (@jochi_photography_studios ) Cover Image 📸 Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Stay tuned to our social media pages for updates on what’s next and our 2026 programmes. #AnyanwuTheNewLight #Anyanwu #IgboCosmology #IndigenousKnowledgeSystems

In conversation with Chief Yemi Ogunbiyi, the art collector and patron reflects on his journey into collecting and the depth of his collection, which span Yoruba masks, Ibeji figures, and modern and contemporary art from Nigeria and Africa. Chief Ogunbiyi also speaks about his encounter with Ben Enwonwu and how he acquired the Anyanwu sculpture from the artist. “When I encounter works of African artists, particularly Yoruba artists with whom I am more familiar, I see myself reflected in those works. I see my history, my culture, and what it means to be human. Those works, in some way, reflect the very essence of my being. We are what we are because we are part of a cultural existence. And those artworks remind me all the time of what my ancestors did, where they came, and where I come from. So there is a connection between me as a human being and the artworks that I see and collect.”, says Chief Yemi Ogunbiyi. This conversation is an excerpt from Anyanwu: The New Light short documentary, produced in conjunction with the exhibition. Director: Anthony Ogochukwu Agbapuonwu (@tonyola_007 ) Cinematography: Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Director of Photography: Akin Adewumi (@akinola.adewumi.omoaqin ) Editor: Jochi Media (@jochi_photography_studios ) Stay tuned to our social media pages for updates on what’s next and our 2026 programmes. #AnyanwuTheNewLight #Anyanwu #IgboCosmology #IndigenousKnowledgeSystems

As part of Anyanwu: The New Light, we published a book featuring essays and interviews on Igbo cosmology, spirituality, and African philosophies. The publication stands as an independent curatorial project and scholarly intervention. It was conceived as an anthology that explores the multidimensional energy embedded in African art, while tracing pathways from conceptual frameworks to traditional roots, and examining the transformation of indigenous knowledge systems in today’s world. The essays bring together reflections and critical inquiries by leading academics, artists, curators, and invited authors working at the forefront of research into the conditions and processes shaping contemporary African creative production. The book was launched during the physical exhibition in September 2025 and is now out of stock. We are currently working on a second volume for wider distribution and making selected essays available through open-access platforms. Thank you to everyone who contributed their voice and scholarship to this special publication. Editor - Anthony Ogochukwu Agbapuonwu (@tonyola_007 ) Copy Editor - Zenas Ubere (@zenasubere ) Book Design / Layout - Ife Aminu (@ifeaminu ) Printer - FAbA (For Artists by Artists) #AnyanwuTheNewLight #Anyanwu #IgboCosmology #IndigenousKnowledgeSystems