Applications Open
Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation and Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.), with the support of Deutsche Bank, invites applications for three residency opportunities in 2027 as part of Project Nexus, G.A.S. and Deutsche Bank’s residency and professional development programme.
Two fully supported residencies are open to artists living and working anywhere in Nigeria, alongside a third, part-funded residency for an artist from the global Nigerian Diaspora. There is no requirement relating to career stage. We are interested in the strength and direction of an applicant’s practice, the questions they are exploring, and how they would use the particular context and resources of a G.A.S. residency to develop their work.
We encourage all applicants to thoroughly read the Information Pack linked below before submitting their application to ensure that they meet all criteria.
Residency 1: Visual Arts and the Environment
G.A.S. Farm House, Ikiṣẹ, Ogun State
11 January – 26 February 2027 | 8 weeks
Fully supported (Internal travel & stipend award, accommodation, studio)
We invite applications from visual artists living and working anywhere in Nigeria whose practice would benefit from an extended period of research and making within the rural environment of the G.A.S. Farm House. We welcome artists working across a broad range of visual and material practices, including ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, film and moving image, photography, installation, textiles and fibre, printmaking and interdisciplinary or material-led practice.
This residency is particularly intended for artists whose work connects with the environment and material conditions of the Farm House. Proposals might explore subjects including ecology, agriculture and food systems; landscape and biodiversity; natural or locally available materials; craft and making traditions; sustainability and material cycles; relationships between land, labour and culture; or the ways environmental knowledge is carried through communities and generations.
Artists working with clay and ceramics may also make use of the developing ceramics facilities at the Farm House, where appropriate to their practice. We are particularly interested in proposals responding to one or both of the following G.A.S. strands of inquiry:
Ecology, Farming and Food
Creative and research-led approaches to land, agriculture, environmental change, regenerative practice, food systems and the relationships between human and more-than-human ecologies.
Materiality, Craft and Identity
Research and experimentation around materials, processes of making, craft histories and traditions, and the relationships between material culture, place and identity.
The Farm residency is intended as a period for inquiry, experimentation and exchange. Applicants are not expected to arrive with a predetermined final outcome. We are interested in proposals that demonstrate curiosity about the particular environment of Ikiṣẹ and a willingness to allow encounters, research and the experience of the residency to inform the direction of the work.
Residency 2: Photography
G.A.S. Lagos
8 February – 5 March 2027 | 4 weeks
Fully supported (Internal travel & stipend award, accommodation, studio)
We invite applications from photographers living and working anywhere in Nigeria for whom photography is a principal part of their creative practice. We welcome a broad understanding of contemporary photographic practice, including analogue and digital photography, documentary and conceptual approaches, portraiture, constructed image-making, experimental processes, photographic archives and practices that move between photography and other media.
The residency offers dedicated time for research, experimentation and the development of ideas. Applicants do not need to propose a completed body of work. Instead, we are interested in how a period in Lagos could enable a photographer to investigate a question, develop an existing area of practice, experiment with new approaches or begin something new.
Proposals might engage with Lagos as a site of research and encounter through its people, built environment, histories, communities, visual cultures, material life, archives, ecologies or rapidly changing urban conditions. Applicants may also wish to draw on the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, and the wider artistic community and networks around the Foundation. We are interested in artists whose practice engages meaningfully with one or more of G.A.S.’s three strands of inquiry:
Archives and Publishing
Research, interpretation and the circulation of cultural knowledge, including approaches to archives, photographic histories, books, publishing and other forms through which images and knowledge are produced, preserved and shared.
Materiality, Craft and Identity
Research and experimentation around materials, processes of making, craft histories and traditions, and the relationships between material culture, place and identity.
Ecology, Farming and Food
Exploring relationships between creative practice, land, agriculture, food systems, environmental change and ecological knowledge.
Residency 3: Nigerian Diaspora Visual Artist
G.A.S. Lagos
8 March – 2 April 2027 | 4 weeks
Part-funded (accommodation, studio and stipend provided)
We invite applications from artists from the global Nigerian Diaspora who would benefit from an extended period of research, experimentation and engagement in Nigeria. This opportunity is open to artists working across visual and interdisciplinary practices, including painting, sculpture, photography, film and moving image, installation, ceramics, textiles and fibre, printmaking, performance and other material or research-led forms.
The residency offers an opportunity to undertake sustained research and develop connections with artists, practitioners, researchers and cultural networks in Nigeria. Proposals might build upon existing areas of enquiry, establish new relationships with Nigerian contexts, histories or material practices, or create space for a new direction within an artist’s work.
Applicants should note that this is a part-funded residency rather than a fully funded award. The residency does not include international travel or visa costs. Residents will also be responsible for their own travel/health insurance and any other personal or project-related expenditure not specifically identified as being provided by G.A.S. Applicants are encouraged to seek additional mobility, travel or project funding from arts councils, foundations, cultural agencies, universities or other funding bodies where appropriate.
Applicants are not expected to propose a predetermined finished work. We are interested in how the residency could contribute meaningfully to the development of the artist’s practice and in their willingness to engage openly with the people, places and ideas they encounter during their time at G.A.S.We are interested in artists whose practice engages meaningfully with one or more of G.A.S.’s three strands of inquiry:
Ecology, Farming and Food
Exploring relationships between creative practice, land, agriculture, food systems, environmental change and ecological knowledge.
Materiality, Craft and Identity
Exploring materials, processes of making, craft histories and traditions, cultural exchange, place and questions of identity.
Archives and Publishing
Exploring archives, histories, cultural memory, writing, publishing, photography and other forms through which knowledge is created, preserved, interpreted and circulated.
What the Residencies Provide
All residencies include accommodation at the relevant G.A.S. site, workspace, residency and pastoral support from the G.A.S. team, access to relevant G.A.S. resources and networks, and a residency award contributing towards travel, living expenses and materials. Note: Residency 3 award covers basic living costs not international mobility and would need to come from other sources.
The nature of the facilities and support differs between Lagos and the Farm House. Applicants should read the 2027 Residency Information Pack carefully before applying for full details of the award, facilities, transport arrangements, materials and costs that are or are not covered.
Residents across all three opportunities will be encouraged to share aspects of their research or practice during their residency through an appropriate form of exchange, which might include an open studio, conversation, workshop, screening, presentation or another format, individually developed in discussion with the G.A.S. team.
Selection
Applications will be considered by a selection panel to be announced in November.
We are looking for artists with a clearly articulated practice and a thoughtful reason for undertaking a residency at G.A.S. Particular consideration will be given to the relationship between the proposed research or activity, the applicant’s existing practice, and the specific context and opportunities offered by the residency. Applicants are strongly encouraged to explore previous G.A.S. residents and programmes before applying.
Register for our info session
Join us on 23rd October 2026 for an online information session for prospective applicants to the Project Nexus supported residencies. During the session, G.A.S. Executive Director Moni Aisida and Y.S.F./G.A.S. CEO Belinda Holden will cover:
- The application process and eligibility criteria
- Residency details, including programme expectations, dates, and the award
- Q&A opportunity
Key Dates
- Applications open: 6th October 2026
- Online Information Session: 23rd October 2026
- Applications close: 3rd November 2026 , 11:59pm WAT
- Final selection announced: 7th December 2026
