Prince Claus Fund - Seed Awards

Dumama is a nomadic future folk musician, performer, and sonic researcher in South Africa. As a storyteller and lyricist, Dumama weaves together childhood songs, stories, and personal memories with electronic hues and gestures. She experiments with the divide between traditional oral culture and futuristic, globally-oriented poetics in her embodiment of an African technological consciousness. Her sonic research deconstructs and reconstructs archaic modes of representation of culture.

Ella Banda is a visual artist, fashion designer, and educator in Malawi. Ella holds a bachelor’s degree in Education and Fine Art from the University of Malawi and has worked as an educator for over five years. Her work depicts African women as a symbol of power, endurance, passion, and nurturing. She often engages with controversial issues concerning women. Ella was selected as a digital resident at Sommerakademie Paul Klee 2021-2022 at Bern Academy of Arts and as a fellow under AFIELD (2022).

Kwamena Boison is a social entrepreneur, multidisciplinary art enthusiast, and fashion designer in Ghana. Drawing significant inspiration from centuries of sustainable Ghanaian fashion and artistic culture, Kwamena redesigns and makes art by collecting textile waste from landfills, bodies of water, and Kantamanto—one of the largest secondhand clothing markets in West Africa. Kwamena is the founder and head of design at AFRODISTRICT and THE REVIVAL.

Leul Shoaferaw is a film director, writer, and producer in Ethiopia. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Addis Ababa University. He began his career at Y&G Communications as a media researcher and later joined Gobez Media as a writer, director, and producer. Leul is the co-founder and creative manager at WAG Entertainment, a multidisciplinary entertainment agency representing young talents in the otherwise untapped creative industry of Ethiopia.

Luis M. S. Santos is an artist based in Mozambique. Luis graduated in Sculpture at Faculdade de Belas Artes do Porto in Portugal. He thinks of his sculptures as live entities, inhabitants of a place far from society and surrounded by nature. Contrasting textures, forms, colors, and materials enrich their skins, creating a series of rhythms and brakes of fluidity. Conceptually, he explores the social-cultural aspects of his surroundings and the lack of harmony between humans and nature.

Maame Adwoa Prempeh is an architect and researcher based in Ghana. Maame holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science. Her practice is at the intersection of art and architecture, and she is known for her community-led and participatory design approach. Maame has a focus on working on the African continent and centring underprivileged communities and their needs, and she explores architecture under three broad narratives: design, research, and advocacy. 

Suchet Baba is a writer, poet, and copywriter based in Nigeria. Suchet is the convener of Arts and Vibes, a project she started with the goal of creating a community and safe space for artists in northern Nigeria to showcase their work and express their truths. Some of her works have appeared in literary magazines, such as Brittle Paper, Khalari Review, and Punocracy, amongst others. In 2019, Suchet’s short story was shortlisted for the Okada Books Campus Challenge.

Tolulope Ami-Williams is a performance artist, art educator, and songwriter based in Nigeria. Tolulope holds a degree in Art and Design from Yaba College of Technology. She uses her body to stage symbolic statements that address themes relating to identity, empowerment, and self-affirmation. Tolulope emerged as one of the five finalists of the Access ART X Prize 2022-2023.