Africa’s Biggest Pan-African Art Competition, Absa L’Atelier Art, Announces 2026 Top 12 Finalists
Africa’s next generation of creative trailblazers will step into the spotlight with the announcement of the 12 finalists for the 2026 Absa L’Atelier Art Competition, the continent’s biggest and most prestigious platform for emerging visual artists in Africa.
As Absa L’Atelier Art celebrates an extraordinary 40-year legacy of championing African creativity, this year’s finalists represent a vibrant tapestry of talent, innovation and storytelling from across the continent. Selected from hundreds of entries spanning Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, the finalists are competing for the opportunity to become one of three 2026 Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassadors, while one outstanding young South African artist will receive the coveted Gerard Sekoto Award.
Open to artists aged 21 to 40, the competition invited entrants to submit a portfolio of four to five recently produced artworks. From thought-provoking paintings and striking photography to boundary-pushing sculpture, this year’s finalists used art as a powerful lens through which to explore identity, culture, heritage and contemporary African life. Their work not only reflects the richness and diversity of the continent but also underscores the growing influence of African artists on the global creative stage.
For four decades, the partnership between Absa and the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA) has opened doors for emerging artists, helping launch careers, unlock international opportunities and amplify authentic African voices. This year’s finalists continue that tradition, showcasing the bold ideas, creative excellence and cultural narratives shaping Africa’s artistic future.
The 12 finalists for the 2026 Absa L’Atelier Art Competition are:
Lerato Lodi – South Africa
Lerato Lodi is a multidisciplinary artist, art entrepreneur, and cultural practitioner. Her artistic practice primarily explores African spirituality and religious themes of rituals, ceremonies, and offerings. She uses acrylic paint on canvas, as well as non-traditional materials like enamel dishes and sacred ancestral cloth, while combining Western traditional artmaking with mixed-media processes.
Emmanuel Shanga – Zambia
Emmanuel Shanga is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration. As the youngest of four children his memories are rooted in the lively atmosphere of Garden Compound. When asked how he got into art, he said, “I didn’t follow a traditional path into the world of art by learning art from school; my curiosity led me to discover a lot about art”.
Ninsiima Peter Aka Peterfog – Uganda
Peterfog is a fitness instructor whose art technique is inspired by the beauty found in nature, the outside environment, and the community at large. His art is representative of gratitude, minimizing life’s complaints, maximizing self-acceptance, self-awareness and positive living through the life trail.
Deolu Femi – Nigeria
Deolu Femi is a paper artist based in Lagos. His art explores how memory and experience continue to shape the body over time. His process involves repeated cutting, folding, layering, and compression to communicate experiences difficult to express through words.
Pebofatso Mokoena – South Africa
Pebofatso Mokoena holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art (Honours) with distinction from Wits University. Pebofatso has won the Merit Award at the Wits Young Artist Award and is part of a writing group named Secret Society. His writings have been published in Curating Johannesburg (2019) and Das Bauhaus Verfehlen, Missing The Bauhaus (2022).
Gavin Kendo – Kenya
Gavin Kendo is a Nairobi-based visual artist whose paintings explore the intersection of identity, memory, nature, and emotional healing. Kendo creates dreamlike worlds inspired by lucid dreams, meditation, and everyday experience.
Treasure Mlima – South Africa
Treasure Mlima works primarily with carved wood; a material resonance closely tied to his upbringing. He opens his subjects to a multitude of interpretations, meanings, and formal explorations.
Anita Sika-Gyamfi – Ghana
Anita Sika-Gyamfi, received her undergraduate training in painting and sculpture from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Her practice centres on conceptual abstract works that exist between painting and sculpture. Anita describes them as “moving “paintings”—textured, dimensional pieces that explore materiality and plasticity.
Sphumelele Zondi – South Africa
Sphumelele Zondi primarily uses sculpture and mixed media. Her practice aids her in investigating memory, childhood nostalgia, and the relationship that exists between the past and the present through sculptural forms constructed from mixed media on cardboard and paper.
Reginald Kofi Boateng – Ghana
As a photographer Reginald Boateng uses the lens of an iPhone to capture and edit beautiful stories, creating colorful digital art. His work reflects an imaginary world using vibrant colors and setting them in contrast with the melanin skin of his subjects. Boateng has had his work featured on Apple, Guardian, and Prazzle Magazine, and he has also exhibited with Calabar Gallery NYC.
Segun Victor Owolabi – Nigeria
Segun Victor Owolabi is a visual artist who has a distinctive approach to portraiture that uses thread. He explains the approach by saying, “A single thread moves beyond being a physical material to become a connection between people, memories, and experiences”. This allows him to explore identity, memory, resilience, inheritance, and the often-unseen experiences that shape who we become.
Alexander Appolis – South Africa
Based in Johannesburg Alexander Appolis is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher working across painting, drawing, sculpture, and spatial installation. His practice investigates how racialized imaginaries and pastoral visual languages can persist in shaping post-apartheid middle-class life; this work informs his work and art.
As is tradition, the finalists are selected by a prestigious committee of artists, curators, gallerists and academics from across the globe whose knowledge of art from the African diaspora leads them into a lengthy and rigorous adjudication process. Speaking to Absa Group Senior Specialist: Art and Museum Curator, Dr. Paul Bayliss, PhD, said, “As Absa L’Atelier Art moves into its 5th decade of creating and supporting art around Africa; it remains focused on its mission. Absa L’Atelier Art’s fundamental focus remains to promote equal opportunity among emerging and established artists, build strong cultural bridges across Africa, and create a platform that inspires young artists to tell stories that aim to change the lives of Africans around the world. This year’s finalists are a strong selection of artists who have put their best foot forward and dared to open a door into their careers with Absa L’Atelier Art”
The (ambassadors) winners from each of the three groups will receive a new laptop, 10 (virtually or in person) masterclasses, a four-month mentorship program, and a concurrent two-month international residency. Additionally, the winners will each have a solo exhibition in their home country within two years of winning the award with up to R100,000 for material costs towards their exhibition. There is also the Absa L’Atelier Art Gerard Sekoto Award for South African artists aged between 25 and 35. This is a partnership with the French Embassy in South Africa and IFAS; it involves, three masterclasses, a 3-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France, and a solo exhibition in South Africa upon their return, with material costs of up R100,000 made available towards their exhibition
Established in 1986, the Absa L’Atelier Art is awarded annually, with winners’ careers fast-tracked on the African stage. Over the past 40 years, the Absa L’Atelier Art award has been awarded to more than 70 artists from across Africa, facilitated over 50-plus international residencies, and funded close to 65 solo exhibitions in different countries in Africa. Some previous winners of the competition include Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (2021), Conrad Botes (2004), Diane Victor (1988), Mongezi Ncaphayi (2013), Penny Siopis (1986), and Nana Sarpong (2025).
The full list of finalists is available now at Absa L’Atelier Art 2026 top 12 Finalist with each artist’s entry portrait, biography, and exhibition story published on the website.
The winners of the 40th edition of the Absa L’Atelier Art awards are to be announced on the 10th of October 2026 at the Absa L’Atelier Art and Lifestyle Fair to be held at Waterfall City Park in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa.
Tickets are on sale at howler.co.za or Scan QR code Below
