Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation in partnership with the Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) is thrilled to announce the second edition of the G.A.S. Critical Writing Workshop, an initiative designed to support the professional and critical development of emerging local art writers, researchers and cultural practitioners.This edition, titled (Re)Casting the Canon, developed by forthcoming resident Folasade Ologundudu invites participants to reimagine art history as something living and unfixed, examining how Nigerian and Black artists have been framed within a Eurocentric canon of Western art history, and considering how these narratives might be reframed through the contemporary voices of African and Black writers.
Inspired in large part by the visionary, genre-expansive work of Saidiya Hartman, particularly her book Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, the workshop encourages participants to develop fictional and/or nonfiction narratives centred on a Nigerian modernist artist and a contemporary artist working today. Through this pairing, participants will situate both artists within a broader critical conversation about art, culture, history, and the present.
Applications for the G.A.S. Critical Writing Workshop II are open to emerging and early-career art writers, researcher, or cultural practitioner based in Lagos, Nigeria. 6 applicants will be selected by Folasade to participate in a three-day intensive programme taking place on September 21th, 22th and 24th, 2026. The deadline for applications is September 9th, 2026, at 23:59 WAT.
We encourage all applicants to thoroughly read the Information Pack linked below before submitting their application to ensure that they meet all criteria.
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
Across the three-day intensive, participants will:
- Study a Nigerian modernist artist alongside a contemporary artist, using art history as a space for reimagining art and cultural writing as fluid and shifting rather than fixed record.
- Investigate how Nigerian and Black artists have been framed within a Eurocentric art-historical canon, and what it means to retell that history through contemporary African voices.
- Engage with archival texts, roundtable/screening sessions, and presentations featuring Black liberatory thinkers, including Wole Soyinka, Manthia Diawara, Toni Morrison, Tina Campt, James Baldwin, and more.
- Build a clear argument and point of view through guided writing prompts and peer feedback.
- Produce a final critical essay (2-3 pages) in descriptive, narrative, or comparative format.
Selected writing may be considered for publication via G.A.S. Publish, a digital toolkit and publication platform powered by Archival Consciousness which will expand from Spring 2027 to accommodate a wider body of writing produced through G.A.S. programmes.
ELIGIBILITY
Applications for the intensive are open to emerging and early-career writers based in Lagos, Nigeria. In order to be considered for final selection applicants must be:
- - Living in Lagos, Nigeria or its environs. We are unable to provide programme participants with accommodation at G.A.S. Lagos.
- - An art writer, researcher, or cultural practitioner. For the purposes of this open call, this is defined as a professional who researches, analyses, and critiques various topics within the arts including, but not limited to, visual arts, performance arts, and cultural movements. Applicants may also be artists or graduate students studying in the arts.
- - An emerging and early-career practitioner. This is defined as someone who has established a dedicated writing practice but is still in the early stages of their professional development. This includes individuals who have completed formal or informal training, published writing in exhibitions, publications, or projects, and begun to build a public presence. However, they may not yet have gained widespread recognition, received major institutional support, or achieved significant commercial success.
- - Able to clearly demonstrate how they meet the application guidelines.
- - Able to fully complete the application form and supply an up-to-date biography, CV and writing samples.
- - Available to participate in the three-day intensive at G.A.S. Lagos, taking place on September 21st, 22nd and 24th, 2026.
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CRITICAL WRITING WORKSHOP AWARD
- Six participants will receive the following:
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- - Full access to the three-day programme.
- - Full access to the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive
- - A hot meal (lunch), drinks and snacks on each day of the programme.
- - A ₦50,000 allowance to cover transport costs to support participation.
- - Stationery.
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APPLICATION TIMELINE
Applications open: 26th August 2026
Applications close: 9th September 2026
Final selection: w/c 14th September 2026
For questions and enquiries, please email info@guestartistsspace.com.
The G.A.S. Critical Writing Workshop falls under the wider scope of Project Nexus, an ambitious residency and education programme designed to nurture and empower artists, art educators, art historians, and curators through a series of residencies, professional development workshops, and educational initiatives over three years. The project embodies the spirit of collaboration and cultural exchange that lies at the heart of both Foundations’ missions, aiming to encourage and cultivate artistic excellence and curatorial innovation. Project Nexus is generously supported by Deutsche Bank.
