Works by African artists long-listed for the FT/OppenheimerFunds awards

The FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Awards

Each year, the Financial Times and OppenheimerFunds award prizes to emerging talented voices in fiction, film and art. The winner in each category gets $40, 000, while 2 runners-up take $5, 000 each. At the inaugural award in 2015, Nigeria’s Chigozie Obioma won the fiction award for his debut novel, ‘The Fishermen’.

Read: Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma shortlisted for £50K Man Booker Prize 2015

The 2016 long-list, announced in June, was drawn from over 797 entries from 64 emerging-market countries, as defined by the World Bank Atlas Method. This year, the art (painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, mixed media) category, was open to artists from Africa and the Middle-East. 393 entries from 35 countries were received, 10 artists were long-listed which included nine Africans and a Jordanian, Noor Abuarafeh.

Africans take over the art category

The African artists on the lists are Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Democratic Republic of Congo; Victor Ehikhamenor, Nigeria; Aicha Filali, Tunisia; Ilan Godfrey, South Africa; Syowia Kyambi, Kenya; Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga, Kenya; Emo de Medeiros, Benin; Gareth Nyandoro, Zimbabwe and Abel Tilahun, Ethiopia.

Read: The Caine Prize for African Writing: Offsetting the continental-diaspora deficit?

The shortlist will be announced on 5 August and winners will be announced on 26 September at an awards ceremony in New York City. Before then, have a look at the amazing works by some of the African artists that made the long-list.

Piece by Emo de Medeiros. Photo: Emo de Medeiros/Flickr

Piece by Gareth Nyandoro. Photo: Kunst beeld/Flickr

Pata Picha Studio photographs by Syowia Kyambi and James Muriuki. Photo: Loz Pycock/Flickr

Exile, by Victor Ehikhamenor. Photo: Victor Ehikhamenor/Flickr

Ilan Godfrey standing by his work. Photo, Books LIVE/Flickr