LAPA Pan-African Artist Residency – Johannesburg, South Africa

Goethe-Institut’s Experimental Residency for Continental Exchange and Collaborative Research

Overview

LAPA Pan-African Artist Residency represents an innovative approach to artistic exchange, functioning simultaneously as residency programme, co-working space, reading room, and community gathering site. Conceptualized and presented by the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, LAPA addresses critical infrastructure gaps in continental artistic collaboration by creating dedicated space for pan-African dialogue, research, and creative development. Housed in the Breezeblock building in Brixton, Johannesburg, this experimental project embodies its name—”lapa,” a Southern African architectural term translating to home, gathering place, and space of restoration—through programming that centers African and diaspora artists working across disciplines in collaborative, research-driven formats.

Conceptual Framework: “Our People Are Our Mountains”

LAPA’s residency programme operates under the philosophical umbrella “Our people are our mountains, and other conditions of life”—a phrase borrowed from revolutionary thinker Amilcar Cabral’s 1972 text addressing unity and struggle within African liberation movements. Cabral’s metaphor illustrates landscape not as passive backdrop but as active condition of existence, encoding relationships between people and land that determine living possibilities.

This conceptual foundation enables LAPA to investigate:

• Theories and practices of collectivity in contemporary African contexts
• Third spaces where artists, communities, and institutions converge
• Shared inquiry and co-citizenship through art as social practice
• Borderless states of being in new pan-Africanism
• Elemental metaphors: sonic through earth, sun through food, water through space
• How artistic practices enact restorative sensibilities and “homing”

The programme positions residencies as forms of artistic research rather than isolated creative retreats, emphasizing collaborative knowledge production and continental exchange.

Three Thematic Residency Sessions

LAPA structures its programming around three interconnected sessions, each exploring elemental resources and artistic methodologies:

Session 1: Enunciation – Voicing in Many Forms

Research Focus: Investigating voice as mode of multiplying, reconstituting, and reconfiguring through practices highlighting the multivocal or polyvocal.

Conceptual Territory:

This session examines how sound, spoken word, oral traditions, and sonic practices function as vehicles for:

• Multiplicity rather than singular narratives
• Collective utterance across communities and geographies
• Decolonial listening practices
• Oral histories and memory preservation
• Multilingual expression reflecting Africa’s linguistic diversity
• Protest, resistance, and affirmation through voice

Potential Disciplines:

• Sound art and audio installation
• Performance poetry and spoken word
• Oral history documentation
• Radio art and broadcast practices
• Experimental music and composition
• Voice-based participatory projects
• Linguistic research through creative practice

Elemental Connection: The sonic through earth—understanding vibration, resonance, and acoustic properties as material conditions shaped by landscape.

Session 2: Imbibe Earthen Processes

Research Focus: Hyper-focused on food and food systems as modes of timekeeping, education, and sharing, discussing ethics and practices of radical movements in relation to food histories.

Conceptual Territory:

This session positions food as:

• Temporal marker structuring seasons, rituals, and cultural memory
• Educational medium transmitting knowledge across generations
• Communal practice creating bonds and solidarities
• Political terrain where sovereignty, extraction, and resistance play out
• Cultural archive preserving ancestral knowledge and migration histories
• Ecological relationship connecting land, labor, and sustenance

Investigation Areas:

• Indigenous food systems and agricultural practices
• Urban farming and food sovereignty movements
• Culinary traditions as resistance to cultural erasure
• Food politics, access, and justice
• Ritual and ceremonial food practices
• Seed preservation and biodiversity
• Climate change impacts on African food security

Potential Approaches:

• Community meals and collective cooking
• Edible landscapes and garden installations
• Food-centered participatory projects
• Documentary research on traditional cuisines
• Collaboration with farmers, cooks, and food activists
• Fermentation and preservation as artistic methodology

Elemental Connection: The sun through food—photosynthesis, growth cycles, and solar energy as foundational to nourishment.

Session 3: Contextual Landings

Research Focus: Investigating how context defines reading and how geography divides and focuses attention, while asking: “How is it still possible to speak of a ‘here’ and a ‘there’ at the same time?”

Conceptual Territory:

This session examines:

• Site-specificity and how location shapes artistic interpretation
• Diaspora experience inhabiting multiple geographies simultaneously
• Digital spaces collapsing distance while maintaining cultural specificity
• Translation and legibility across cultural contexts
• Archives and memory situated in particular places yet speaking beyond them
• Migration and displacement creating hybrid positionalities
• Pan-African consciousness navigating continental and diasporic realities

Methodological Questions:

• What becomes visible or invisible depending on geographic position?
• How do artists working across borders negotiate multiple “homes”?
• Can research methods travel, or must they be context-specific?
• What forms of knowledge resist translation?
• How do colonial geographies still structure contemporary artistic circulation?

Potential Practices:

• Mapping and cartographic interventions
• Multi-sited research projects
• Digital/physical hybrid works
• Collaborative projects bridging distant communities
• Archive-based investigations
• Site-responsive installations

Elemental Connection: Water through space—fluidity, migration, and the way water (like people and ideas) moves across boundaries while maintaining essential properties.

Selection Committee Philosophy

Jury Composition: Each year, LAPA selects three professionals working in Africa dedicated to artistic practices, research, and institution-making. These rotating jurors bring diverse perspectives on continental creative production.

Selection Criteria:

Applications are evaluated for:

Quality of Practice: Demonstrated artistic excellence and distinctive voice in applicant’s discipline

Research Intent: Clear articulation of inquiry questions and investigative methodologies appropriate to residency’s thematic focus

Collaborative Sensibility: Evidence of ability and desire to work in collaborative formats rather than isolated studio practice

Pan-African Sensitivity: Understanding of and engagement with practices of new pan-Africanism, whether through:

• Thematic engagement with African histories, futures, or presents
• Collaborative networks across continent and diaspora
• Critical approaches to African identity, sovereignty, or cultural production
• Contribution to decolonial artistic and intellectual projects

Elemental Resonance: How proposed work connects to session themes (voice/earth, food/sun, context/water)

Jury Notes (From Selection Process):

“The selected residents all have themes which connect to illustrate a landscape through elemental metaphors: the sonic through earth, the sun through food and water through space.” — blk.banaana

“Just to speak on the elemental, these resources that Africa has a huge supply of but also in their use are quite limited. […] how will these residencies speak to a larger context and how will we bring them together to address these issues and of course their aesthetic, artistic agency. A lot of scientifically oriented people don’t think that artists have a say in these things [but from an African context a lot of noise is made through the arts]. Let’s see how we can really make a point of these things.” — Bernard Akoi Jackson

These statements reveal LAPA’s commitment to positioning artistic research as intervention in material, ecological, and political questions facing Africa.

LAPA Facilities & Programme Structure

The Breezeblock Building, Brixton:

LAPA occupies purpose-designed space in Brixton, a historically working-class Johannesburg suburb undergoing cultural revitalization. This location creates:

• Immediate community connection with neighborhood residents
• Accessibility for local artists and publics
• Suburban context distinct from Johannesburg CBD art districts
• Questions of potential: “What could we encourage when we are housed together?”

Multifunctional Space Design:

LAPA operates as communal, experimental public project with integrated functions:

Co-Working Office

• Shared workspace for Goethe-Institut team, resident artists, partner organizations, and visiting professionals
• Parallel and connected programmes facilitating spontaneous collaboration
• Desk space supporting research, writing, and administrative work
• Meeting areas for project development discussions

Reading Room

Curated Library developed through:

• Artist research focuses from current and past residents
• Fictional and non-fictional books spanning literature, theory, and creative writing
• Critical and historical publications on culture, art, design, architecture, and African studies
• Accessible reference materials supporting deeper investigation of pan-African artistic and cultural practices
• Public programming including reading groups, book launches, discussions

The reading room functions as intellectual commons, allowing artists to contextualize their practice within broader discourse while contributing to collective knowledge building.

Artist Residency Space

• Dedicated workspace for resident artists
• Flexible configuration accommodating various practices
• Access to communal facilities and resources
• Integration with co-working environment fostering interdisciplinary exchange

Programme Adaptability:

LAPA’s design supports:

• Conversational programming including dialogues, panels, and roundtables
• Workshops led by residents, visiting artists, or community members
• Presentations sharing research outcomes and works-in-progress
• Public events connecting residency work with broader Johannesburg audiences
• Collaborative projects between residents, local artists, and organizations

Goethe-Institut Partnership & Mission

Institutional Context:

The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s cultural institute, promoting German language and fostering international cultural cooperation globally. Goethe-Institut Johannesburg has long supported contemporary African art through:

• Exhibition programmes featuring continental and diasporic artists
• Educational initiatives and artist development
• Publication projects and critical discourse
• International exchange facilitating connections between African, European, and global art scenes

LAPA’s Role in Goethe-Institut Vision:

LAPA extends this mission by:

• Centering African voices in programming design and execution
• Facilitating continental exchange rather than North-South flow
• Supporting infrastructure development for African artistic research
• Modeling collaborative institutional practice where space is shared equitably
• Investing in long-term community relationships rather than transactional projects

The residency reflects evolving approaches to cultural diplomacy, prioritizing sustainable exchange, regional collaboration, and African agency in defining artistic agendas.

Conviviality as Methodology

LAPA describes itself existing “through conviviality, interjection, development and collaboration“—positioning these not as add-ons but as core methodologies.

Conviviality: Creating conditions for living and working together across difference, fostering relationships beyond transactional professional networking

Interjection: Interrupting conventional modes of artistic production, exhibition, and discourse; creating space for unexpected voices and perspectives

Development: Emphasizing process, growth, and emergence over finished products; supporting artists in evolving their practice

Collaboration: Structuring residencies to encourage co-creation, shared inquiry, and collective knowledge production rather than isolated studio work

This approach suits artists who:

• Thrive in communal environments
• Value dialogue and exchange as creative fuel
• Work in participatory or socially engaged modes
• Seek intellectual community alongside studio time
• Are comfortable with experimental, non-hierarchical structures

Application Process & Contact

Application Format: Open call announced annually through Goethe-Institut channels

How to Apply:

Monitor announcements through:

• Goethe-Institut Johannesburg website and social media
• African art networks and mailing lists
• Cultural organizations partnering with LAPA
• Previous resident networks

Primary Contact:

Tammy Langtry
Cultural Programmes: LAPA
Goethe-Institut Johannesburg

Phone: +27 11 442 3232
Email: tammy.langtry.extern@goethe.de

Contact for:

• Application timeline and requirements
• Programme details and expectations
• Eligibility questions
• Thematic session clarifications
• Partnership or collaboration inquiries

Eligibility & Artist Profile

Geographic Focus: Artists working in Africa and its diaspora—broadly interpreted to include:

• Artists based on the African continent (all 54 countries)
• Diaspora practitioners with African heritage working globally
• Artists of any background deeply engaged with African contexts, histories, or futures
• Collaborative collectives bridging continental and diasporic locations

Disciplines Welcomed:

LAPA’s thematic approach accommodates diverse practices:

• Visual arts (painting, sculpture, installation, photography)
• Sound art and experimental music
• Performance and live art
• Film and video
• Writing and literary practices
• Culinary arts and food-based projects
• Architecture and spatial practices
• Design and material culture
• Socially engaged and participatory art
• Archival and research-based work
• Interdisciplinary and hybrid forms

Career Stage: Open to emerging and established practitioners demonstrating:

• Commitment to research-based practice
• Collaborative working methods
• Engagement with pan-African questions
• Ability to contribute to communal environment

Why Choose LAPA Residency?

This conceptually rigorous pan-African programme offers unique advantages:

• Goethe-Institut support providing institutional resources and international networks
• Pan-African focus centering continental and diasporic exchange
• Thematic depth through carefully conceived session frameworks
• Collaborative structure encouraging co-creation and shared inquiry
• Reading room access supporting intellectual development
• Co-working environment facilitating interdisciplinary connections
• Public programming creating audience for research outcomes
• Brixton location offering community engagement opportunities
• Restorative philosophy emphasizing care, gathering, and “homing”
• Experimental approach valuing process and emergence
• Selective jury ensuring high-caliber cohorts
• New pan-Africanism framework addressing contemporary continental realities

Residency Duration & Logistics

Duration: Contact LAPA directly for specific session lengths and timing

Funding: Not specified in available materials—inquire about:

• Stipends or fees
• Travel support
• Materials budgets
• Accommodation provisions
• Per diems or living expenses

Accommodation: Unclear if on-site or external—contact for details

Visa Support: As Goethe-Institut programme, likely provides visa invitation letters for international residents

LAPA’s Contribution to African Art Infrastructure

Addressing Critical Gaps:

LAPA responds to documented need for communal space and art infrastructure within Johannesburg promoting regional exchange. Many African artists face:

• Limited institutional support for research-based practices
• Inadequate spaces for collaboration and experimentation
• Insufficient platforms for pan-African dialogue
• Barriers to accessing critical literature and archives
• Isolation from continental peers and discourse

LAPA’s model—combining residency, co-working, and reading room—creates integrated infrastructure addressing multiple needs simultaneously.

Sustainable Exchange Model:

By hosting parallel programmes (Goethe-Institut team, residency, partner organizations, publics), LAPA builds sustainable exchange rather than extractive, one-off projects. Artists benefit from:

• Ongoing relationship with space beyond residency period
• Connection to institutional resources and networks
• Contribution to growing archive and knowledge base
• Potential for return visits and continued collaboration

Pan-African Artistic Research in Practice

LAPA positions itself within growing movement recognizing artistic research as legitimate knowledge production. This approach:

• Values process, experimentation, and inquiry alongside finished works
• Recognizes artists as intellectual producers, not just makers
• Creates platforms for sharing methodologies and findings
• Builds archives documenting African creative research
• Challenges hierarchies privileging textual over practice-based knowledge
• Supports artists navigating academic and artistic worlds

For artists working in socially engaged, community-based, or conceptual modes, LAPA provides rare infrastructure validating research dimensions of their practice.

Contact & Next Steps

LAPA Pan-African Artist Residency
Goethe-Institut Johannesburg
Breezeblock Building
Brixton, Johannesburg
South Africa

Programme Coordinator:
Tammy Langtry
Tel: +27 11 442 3232
Email: tammy.langtry.extern@goethe.de

To Apply:

• Monitor Goethe-Institut Johannesburg announcements
• Prepare research proposal aligned with thematic sessions
• Demonstrate collaborative sensibility and pan-African engagement
• Contact Tammy Langtry for application timeline

Experience residency as gathering, restoration, and homing in a programme that understands African artistic research as essential contribution to continental futures, environmental justice, and decolonial knowledge production.