We are pleased to announce Zambian artist Gladys Kalichini as the winner of the Henrike Grohs Art Award 2022. Her multidisciplinary research-based practice really caught our attention. The award will spur Gladys to continue to push her exacting and boundary-defying practice in interesting directions and could serve as a spark in energizing the art scene in her home country of Zambia.

⁠— 2022 Jury: Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, Serubiri Moses and Princess Marilyn Douala Manga.

 

And the winner is ... Gladys Kalichini

Artwork by Gladys Kalichini

“A melancholic meditation on Zambia’s colonial and postcolonial histories”

The jury describes Kalichini's work as a melancholic meditation on Zambia’s colonial and postcolonial histories, addressing such themes as trauma and death. Her approach to the archive as a space of enunciation, shines a critical light on acts of omission or erasure of women’s contributions to Zambia’s political history and, her ethnography on the spaces occupied by women in contemporary Zambia is a brilliant contribution.

Credits: This video was developed in collaboration with Ruth Simbao. Gladys Kalichini is a PhD candidate in the DSI/NRF Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa research programme at Rhodes University.

Jury Statement

Jury Statement

GI

Goethe-Institut and the Grohs Family Statement

Congratulations to the 2022 runners up

Va Bene

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi [crazinisT artisT] works internationally but lives in Kumasi, Ghana. sHit is a multidisciplinary “artivist”, founder and artistic director of perfocraZe International Artists Residency (pIAR) which aimed at promoting exchange between international and local artists, activists, researchers, curators and so on. As a performer and installation artist, crazinisT investigates gender stereotypes, prejudices, queerness, identity politics and conflicts, sexual stigma and their consequences for marginalized groups or individuals.

Temitayo Ogunbiyi

Temitayo Ogunbiyi

Temitayo Ogunbiyi has lived and worked in Lagos, Nigeria for over 10 years. She largely works with West African and Caribbean cultural traditions. She lives amongst and seeks to build connections across distinct communities, and between botanical cultures and human histories. Systems that capture, mediate, and direct the movement of people, information and matter are recurring subjects of investigation in her practice.

The three Finalists for the HGAA 2022

Gladys Kalichini, Zambia © Kelvin Haizel

Gladys Kalichini

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi. Photo by Edward Onsoh © Edward Onsoh

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi

Temitayo Ogunbiyi. Photo by Samuel Bolarinwa © Samuel Bolarinwa

Temitayo Ogunbiyi

Jury & Shortlist HGAA 2022

Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi © Caleb Kenna Photography

Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi

Princess Marilyn Douala Manga Bell © Max Mbakop

Princess Marilyn Douala Manga Bell

Serubiri Moses

Serubiri Moses

Chemu Ng’ok, Justice, 2019. Photo credit: Anthea Pokroy Chemu Ng’ok, Justice, 2019. © Anthea Pokroy

Twenty-two artists shortlisted for the HGAA 2022

Applications to the 3rd Henrike Grohs Art Award closed on 17 September 2021. Over 260 applications were received from 31 countries across the continent. Twenty-two artists have been selected for further consideration by a selection comittee. The winner is set to win a cash prize of 20.000€ and 10.000€ towards the publication of their work. Two runners up will receive 5.000€ each. 

Shortlist 2022

Shortlist Selection Comittee 2022

Devin Hentz © Devin Hentz

Devin Hentz

Patrick Mudekereza © Kevin Kabambi

Patrick Mudekereza

Rafael Mouzinho © Basilio Muchate

Rafael Mouzinho

Teesa Bahana © Martin Kharumwa

Teesa Bahana

After the boats set sail video still © Kitso Lelliott

HGAA 2022 —
In recognition of outstanding artistic talent

The Henrike Grohs Art Award (HGAA) has been established to pay tribute to the outstanding artistic talent on the African continent and to acknowledge that the working conditions for young professional artists are indeed challenging, even more so in times of a global pandemic. Applications to the third HGAA, which will be awarded in 2022, closed in September 2021.

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