MAKWANDE ART RESIDENCY
ABOUT
Founded by Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez, the Makwande Art Residency is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation that fosters creativity, research, and experimentation through its international residency program for emerging African Female artists.
Our aim is to nurture female artistic growth and cultural enlightenment. Empower and champion equality in the arts.
Located in the South of France, on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Makwande Art Residency offers time and space in a contemplative and supportive environment, giving residents the freedom to think, create, and connect.
Makwande Art Residency encourages crucial exploratory work, with a focus on the emerging contemporary art scene.
Makwande Art Residency supports emerging African female artists in realizing their projects and establishing their creative practice on an international scale. Additionally, Makwande Art Residency emphasizes the importance of self-care during the residency and advocates for artists to take time in learning how to balance work and restoration.
VISION
Our vision is to nurture emerging African female artistic growth and cultural enlightenment through mentorship and community. We believe that their voices, experiences, and creative offerings are unique and deserving of industry space. The residency aims to empower and champion equity in the arts. We create a unique opportunity for our artists to develop upward mobility and visibility in the international art sphere.
MENTORING
We recognise how negative racial, sociocultural, and gender experiences often subvert the work of African female artists. We aim to provide solutions to challenges such as international access and financial aid, facilitating relationships with sector experts. Forging years of industry experience, we guide our artists into novel and exciting markets, helping them identity and reach their target audience. We encourage unhindered exploration into the majestic South of France because robust questioning and investigation leads to better art.
NTHABISENG BOLEDI KEKANA
June 2023
This year, we had the pleasure of inviting our youngest and third recipient to the Makwande Art Residency. Nthabiseng’s invitation was the result of a long-standing working relationship we have fostered over the years. I have had the honour of watching her grow and seeing her talent and technique evolve and thus my complete confidence in her abilities. Nthabiseng has consistently demonstrated dedication and commitment to her craft, a quality that makes her art worth investing in.
NOMAZA NONGQUNGA COUPEZ
President
I was born in Ngqeleni, a little village within the Eastern Cape of South Africa. On arrival in France in 2009, I realised the significance of culture as a vehicle to educate, empower, and afford economical freedom to young persons despite color or background. I also saw how African art and creatives were not adequately represented in Europe, and how that representation could be used to promote cross-cultural understanding and improve the economic position of African artists. This realisation drove me to establish Undiscovered Canvas a boutique agency based in the South of France, profiling African art and promoting global investment in it. My work through Undiscovered Canvas exposed the unique challenges faced by African female artists in their early careers, often leading them to give up their passion for alternative livelihoods. I've since endeavored to accentuate the influence of African artists by creating Makwande Art residency, a safe, nuanced, and culturally enriching space where African female artists not only create meaningful and progressive work but also have their careers accelerated into international markets.
GILLES BALAGUERO
Lawyer & Secretary of Makwande Art Residency
My values: humanist, I believe in the value of human beings and humanity. We are all connected to each other, to our ancestors and to our successors. Our differences enrich us and make us grow. On the strength of these values, I engage in associations with a humanist vocation and solidarity. My passions: Curious, I thirst for knowledge. My favorite fields are history, literature, knowledge of civilizations and the arts. This curiosity pushed me to collect books, masks, and sculptures and paintings, mainly from Africa. I am happy to participate in this new adventure of Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez with the MAKWANDE Art Residency for the promotion of African female artists.
TRACEY BROWN
Advisor & Patronage
As the owner and Director of Flight Logistics Group for over 30 years and with a specialist art shipping division I am fortunate to have had broad exposure to and involvement in the Art world. I have been able to curate an extensive and eclectic personal art collection and through various philanthropic projects have been able to support artists, gallerists, curators and charities with an emphasis on improving accessibility and equanimity around the art market. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved in the creation of “Makwande” – the philosophies underpinning the mission of the residency are at the heart of my own “raison d’etre” which I share with Makwande’s founder – Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez. It is going to be both a pleasure and a privilege to offer support and artistic development opportunities to talented artists and introduce their work into the (perceived) traditional centres of art excellence, challenging perceptions and “labels”, stimulating discussion and creating truly equal opportunity.
DZUNISANI NGOBENI
Reseacher & Writer
I am a South African writer, performing artist, and veterinarian based in London. I have found that art, in all its forms, is able to communicate beyond our sociopolitical barriers and bring us to a place of common humanity. It is a potent means of translating individual and communal internal culture, bridging society over the chasms created by colonial drift. I have been an avid fan of Nomaza and her work through Undiscovered Canvas, championing the export of African culture and our authentic narratives through art. I now have the honor of joining this important work with the inception of Makwande as the Residency's editor and writer. We have the opportuity create space for African women and to move the needle towards an equitable global art community.
NEWS
MAIL & GUARDIAN
Makwande was established as a nonprofit organisation in France focusing on the emerging contemporary art scene. It supports emerging African female artists in establishing their work on an international scale.
“I realised how limiting it was to run the residency under a private company. Raising funds was not easy and the residency only catered for artists by Undiscovered Canvas,” Nongqunga Coupez said.
SAFM
THE ART OF EVERYTHING
Made In SA – A graduate in biomedical technology, Nomaza chose to leave the pharmaceutical industry to promote African Artists in France
In 2019 Undiscovered Canvas launched the 1st art residency by a South African women on the French Riviera and 100 % funded by Undiscovered Canvas.
MAKWANDE BENEFIT GALA 2022
CONTACT US
APPLICATION
There is no call for applications at the moment. Please check our website at a later stage or subscribe to the Makwande's newsletter to receive further details.