Artist Residency in Dakar and Senegal: Venues to Know

In Dakar and across Senegal, several artist residencies host creators for dedicated periods of work: Black Rock Senegal, in Dakar, the Villa Saint-Louis Ndar, run by the Institut français in Saint-Louis, and RAW Material Company, an independent space founded in Dakar in 2008 that combines residencies, exhibitions and research. Each of these organisations publishes its own selection criteria and calendar on its official site.

Black Rock Senegal

Black Rock Senegal is a residency based in Dakar that hosts artists for periods of creative work. As with any residency, the disciplines it accepts, its selection criteria and its application windows are found on the organisation's official site, the only reliable source when preparing an application.

The Villa Saint-Louis Ndar

In Saint-Louis, a city on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2000 and the former capital of French West Africa, the Institut français du Sénégal runs the Villa Saint-Louis Ndar, a residency that fits within its broader cultural cooperation work. Here too, calls for applications and their criteria are published on the Institut français's site.

RAW Material Company

RAW Material Company, founded in Dakar in 2008, is an independent space devoted to contemporary art, exhibitions and research, which has also hosted residencies as part of its activities. Its programme and any open calls are listed directly on its site.

Why a residency rather than a home studio

A residency offers a setting a usual studio does not always provide: time cleared of daily constraints, sometimes a larger work space, and the proximity of other artists or researchers passing through the same organisation. For an artist who works alone most of the year, meeting other practices, other disciplines or other countries often matters as much as the production time itself. It is also a chance to step out of a familiar context, which can feed a body of work in unexpected ways.

Combining a residency with a local showing

Some residencies end with a presentation of the work produced, open to the public or to a smaller circle: a useful moment for an artist who wants to show how a project has developed before a fuller exhibition elsewhere. When a residency does not include that kind of showing, nothing stops an artist from looking, alongside it or afterward, for a venue to present the work that came out of that period, in Dakar or elsewhere.

What to prepare before applying

A residency application usually includes a well documented portfolio of recent work (clear photographs, captions with title, year, technique, dimensions), a statement explaining what the artist hopes to develop during the residency, and sometimes references or recommendations. The exact format, the number of works requested and the language of the application vary from one organisation to the next: it is always better to follow the published guidelines than to assume they match another residency's.

The Ge'eza Institute's ambition, on the horizon

The vision for the Ge'eza Institute, described on the house's about page, mentions artist residencies among the formats it would like to see develop, alongside cross programmes and institutional gatherings between East and West Africa. This is an ambition for the future: no residency is currently open under this name, and no launch date has been announced. Artists looking for an active residency right now should turn to the organisations already in operation listed above.

Showing your work in the meantime

An artist preparing a residency application can, in parallel, look for ways to show work locally. Ge'eza's gallery, in Point E, receives exhibition proposals throughout the year: the article on exhibiting at a Dakar gallery sets out what is generally useful to send. More background on the city's cultural landscape is available in our article on cultural institutes in Dakar.

Planning the practical side of the stay

Beyond the application itself, a residency often means a temporary move: a visa, housing, work materials. These practical details, specific to each organisation and each host country, are usually clarified once an application has been accepted, directly with the residency's team.

Keeping timelines realistic

Several months often pass between submitting an application and the actual start of a residency: time for the application to be reviewed, a visa to be obtained if needed, travel to be arranged. An artist aiming for a residency during a specific part of the year does better applying well ahead of time, rather than a few weeks before the preferred date.

Taking it further

For any question about Dakar's residency ecosystem or an exhibition proposal at Ge'eza, the team replies on WhatsApp at +221 78 660 07 07 or at geezacultures@gmail.com.