CAP Prize 2024 | Shortlist
CAP PRIZE 2024 | SHORTLIST
These 25 shortlisted projects – in alphabetical order by artist– were chosen by a panel of 20 international judges. The shortlist comprises works by: Ammar Abdallah, Massow Ka, Adedolapo Boluwatife, Florence Cuschieri, Rehab Eldalil, Arnold Fokam, Lina Geoushy, Jonathan Jasberg, Ahmed Khirelsid, Skander Khlif, Christopher Littlewood, Thero Makepe, Tshepiso Moropa, Kriss Munsya, Neec Nonso, Dan Nelken, Xoliswa Ngwenya, Kalenga Nkonge, Cletus Nelson, Nwadike, Edward Prah, Dione Roach, D.M. Terblanche, Coenraad Torlage, Farren Van Wyk, Khanya Zibaya
My journey began at three in the morning on October 25 from Wad Madani to Qabqba to enter Egypt illegally through the border. From Home, 2024
On the fourteenth of April 2023, one of the largest displacement crises of the century began due to the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Militia in Sudan. This conflict has led to widespread violence, causing more than 7 million citizens to be displaced. Many lost their homes, which were stolen and destroyed amidst the chaos. Families were torn apart, communities were shattered, and a significant number of people were forced to flee to neighbouring countries or seek refuge in overcrowded and under-resourced camps. The humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by food shortages, clean water, and medical supplies. This project explores Ammar Abdallah's journey to find a home.
Untitled. From Or Blanc, 2023
Massow Ka has been photographing the work of women salt-pickers at Gandiol for almost three years. These salt pans have been exploited for centuries and undergo seasonal cycles. The photographs capture the imposing marks left by humans on the landscape, resembling a microscopic world. The photographer plays with different scales, zooming in and out to examine the traces of human presence on the ground, revealing layers of earth, river sediments, salt, and sand. However, behind the apparent harmony lies a violent tension between human intervention and the physical toll it takes on these women's bodies due to the harsh working conditions. Salt is a source of wealth but also affects the community's survival, threatening their wells and orchards. The community lives in harmony with the vast salt marshes, both a colossal and sublime entity.
Untitles. From Invitation to Invade, 2023
Growing up in Lagos exposed Adedolapo Boluwatife to the dire consequences of plastic pollution, particularly its contribution to environmental issues like flooding. Motivated by the pressing need for improved waste management and ecological sustainability, this project was initiated to advocate for change through art. Deviating from conventional documentary imagery, it employs metaphorical depictions, challenging traditional norms to evoke profound emotional responses. Living on the outskirts of Lagos revealed a lack of awareness regarding the harmful effects of improper waste disposal. In response, the project actively collects and transforms waste into art. This unique approach addresses the issue and inspires a vision of a disaster-free environment.
The project explores the intricate connection between humans, plastic waste, and the environment through inventive lighting, impactful compositions, and a focus on form and texture. These visually striking images testify to the hazardous relationship between plastic and our ecosystem, urging collective responsibility to protect the environment and drive positive change. The project aims to take viewers on a contemplative artistic journey, emphasizing the urgent need for proper waste management.
Florence Cuschieri
Born in 1993 in Mont Saint Aignan, France. Lives in Arles, France
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La Ronde des Hirondelles (The Swallow's round), 2023
The ice wing. Baldy dam. 2022. From La Ronde des Hirondelles (The Swallow's round), 2023
They are Mohamed, Youcef, Mustapha, Ahmed, Ali, Tierno and Khalid. Originally from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, they were forced to flee their homes. After months, even years spent roaming through unsafe terrain, they finally arrived in Briançon after crossing the Alps that separate Italy from France. The presence of these men here is not a matter of choice but rather the result of certain unavoidable circumstances. Here in Briançon, they are forced to survive on the margins of society, on the thresholds of the frontiers of the law, where the exception becomes the norm. These men are in a latent state. Isolated. Over time, they come to embrace this land as their own. They walked hoping to forget the weight of their thoughts and escape the oppressive presence of home. Mohamed, Mustapha, Youcef, Ahmed, Ali, Khalid and Tierno are trapped in this situation. They circle in circles in the landscape. With nowhere else to go, they have made their nest in Briançon and pass the time as best they can. Their relationship with nature, with this hostile and majestic land, becomes their only sanctuary – a place of rest and abandonment, disturbed only by painful memories.
Seliman holds Al Khodary. From The Longing of the Stranger Whose Path Has Been Broken, 2022
The Longing Of The Stranger Whose Path Has Been Broken explores the notion of belonging and the interconnectedness between people and land that shapes this notion. Over a span of 10 years, I collaborated with the Bedouin community of South Sinai, Egypt to explore the notion of belonging. The Bedouin community defines this notion through their intertwined attachment to land - they are its eternal keepers. The community are participants in the creative process, contributing with their traditional mediums such embroidery, poetry, storytelling and plant foraging. The result is a visual conversation on the continuous human process of searching for home and a celebration of the indigenous experience that has long been seen through a romanticized gaze. The final outcome of the project is a collection of photographs, written content, embroidered photographs on fabric artifacts, sound and video. I believe it's a common human emotion to seek a definition of one's identity, yet its complexity is often ignored, creating flattened labels and othering. The project challenges past colonial, orientalist and exotic narratives told of the Bedouins specifically and of the indigenous communities at large. It advocates for reshaping the representation of native and non-western communities in future narratives.
Arnold Fokam
Born in 1996 in Kumba , Cameroon. Lives in Douala, Cameroon
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Les re-enchanteresse, 2024
The crossing. From Les re-enchanteresse, 2024
Les Re-enchanteresses is a series of works that tell new stories for our contemporary cities. The series engages a discourse around reincarnation, blending memories of the deceased with the socio-ecological realities of urban ecosystems. The aim is to establish a new bridge between humans and their immediate environment by invoking the memory of those who, for us, have disappeared but breathe in the living around us. Nature is the portrait of our ancestors, as the Bamileke people (West Cameroon) believe, resurrected through the forest and streams. This work defends the idea that our relationship with our environment depends on our relationship with ourselves. The degradation of nature is nothing other than the reflection of major pollution of our intimate landscapes and internal waters. These spirits, these forces of nature, these souls we once cherished, are resurrected amid our daily lives, like the drop of water that travels eternally between the ocean and the sky. They carry a salutary message for us: to re-enchant our lives, to calm our troubled waters so that these intimate waters, in turn, purify the world.
Doria Shafik, Egyptian suffragette leader (2nd from right), who has promised to fast until her native country allows demanded privileges, rests with other suffragettes. The weary Doria again stressed her intention to continue the hunger strike until she dies or enters the Constituent Assembly, one of her group's demands Cairo, 1954, with digital intervention. From Trailblazers: An Inquiry Into Egypt's Feminist History, 2024
Trailblazers is an inquiry into Egypt's fragmented and dismissed feminist history using socially engaged self-portraiture, performance, and the public archive to reclaim and inscribe a counter-history. Growing up, I was deeply impacted by Egyptian films that were made from the 1940s to the 1960s, a period known as the golden age of cinema in Egypt-in which women played influential leading roles and a pivotal period in Egyptian history in which monarchy was abolished, British occupation over Egypt ended. Women finally earned the right to vote. These film portrayals were in stark contrast to the conservative reality that I witnessed the women around me navigate from the 90s onwards. Responding to this dissonance, I built a new reference and an archive informed by the public archive and driven by a feminist impulse. Through performance, influenced by studio portraiture in mid-twentieth century Egypt, particularly by Armenian Egyptian photographer Van Leo, I embody narratives of trailblazing women overlooked by mainstream records and present multiple readings of female liberation to monumentalize these overlooked Egyptian feminists.
Sailors and The Sphinx. From Cairo: A Beautiful Thing Is Never Perfect, 2022
Titled after the ancient Egyptian proverb "A Beautiful Thing Is Never Perfect", this series of candid photos takes a deeper look into the sprawling mega-metropolis of Cairo, Egypt. A city named 'Most Beautiful City in the World' in 1925 has gone through a turbulent century since earning the title. This long-term photography project Is my love letter to the city. By showing candid moments that are a mix of joyful, quirky, sad, and complex, I hope that viewers, no matter where they are from, can smile at, empathize with and relate to the shared beauty of life. A beautiful thing is never perfect.
Untitled. From Under Control, 2024
On April 15, they woke up to the noise of their family in distress and many missed calls on their phone. War had broken out in Khartoum. Within hours, they heard the sounds of artillery, realizing they were stuck in the middle of a battlefield. They had to leave. Death, violence, political and economic instability, upheaval, and doubt have become inherent to the Sudanese people in the last five years, from the revolution to the pandemic to the military coup in 2021. "Under Control" is a personal project that documents their experience of being forced to leave their family home and their attempts to adapt to this new situation. Through this work, they try to explore and understand the psychological and emotional trauma received as a result of this war, as well as those around them. It is both a commentary on the mental state they are going through during this challenging time and also indirectly a political commentary on the news and propaganda. They fled to a village called Al-Hasaya, where their uncle offered them an abandoned house. They don't know what the next step is. It is a time of waiting and uncertainty.
The pollinators - Bee Decline. The Vanishing Home, 2024
"The Vanishing Home" captures the enigmatic narratives woven within Tunisian communities, standing at the crossroads of compelled migration due to the intricate interplay of climate change and globalization. Despite Tunisia's modest carbon footprint, it emerges as a poignant canvas marked by environmental flux-from drought and desertification to the ominous rise of sea levels. Through collaborative portraiture, this project unveils the subtle metamorphosis induced by climate challenges, encapsulating the resilience and untold stories of those navigating shifting landscapes. A pervasive theme echoes, shedding light on cultural heritage dangling on the edge of disappearance. "The Vanishing Home" prompts a shift in perspective, urging acknowledgement of the intricate tapestry that envelops life, embracing humanity and the broader spectrum of species. At its core, the series advocates for an expanded view, recognizing the interconnected dance of life on Earth. The planet, inherently robust and adaptable, confronts a future where humanity's existence and legacy delicately sway on the brink. Protagonists- residents, activists, advocates- embody resilience; their stories are cryptic beacons urging collective action and a profound reevaluation of our symbiotic link with the environment. In this cryptic exploration, Earth's fate converges with humanity's intricate destiny and the destiny of its diverse cohabitants.
Human Rights Precinct I. From Through Monuments, 2023
Postcolonial Southern Africa is a place that enacts a continuous tension between its architectural constructions, its natural surroundings and the weight of racist historical ideologies. Through memorials, monuments, sites of cultural significance and other commemorative topologies, these photographs ruminate on these tensions within the contemporary context. For the past four years, I have been photographing heritage sites related to the entangled histories of South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, exploring how collective memory is made tangible through superimposed material cultures. In the words of James Baldwin, "As we consider what role monuments play in our culture, it's the historical context, not the mythology, that we must remember." In that spirit, Through Monuments is not grouped following any chronological narrative. Instead, the photographs are sequenced according to the aesthetics of built form, material texture and decorative motif. This encourages the reading of monuments - not in terms of the events or personalities they purport to represent - but rather as a set of languages that reflect the context from which they emerged.
Martha II. From We Didn't Choose to be Born Here, 2022
"We Didn't Choose to be Born Here" explores Botswana's socio-political fabric through a personal lens. Blending staged portraiture, documentary, re-enactments, and archival material, it weaves personal family stories with national history, reflecting on the legacy of apartheid and contemporary movements like the student-led campaign #FeesMustFall. The work questions individual responsibility in a national context, engaging with themes of activism and resilience.
In 1958, the artist's grandfather, Hippolytus Mothopeng, fled South Africa to escape racist Apartheid laws. He went to Botswana, a far more peaceful country under British protection, eventually achieving independence in 1966. He worked as a town clerk in Francistown and Gaborone and was a hobbyist jazz musician. In contrast, Hippolytus' uncle, Zephaniah Mothopeng, a teacher by profession, became an activist and joined the Pan-African Congress of Azania (PAC), eventually becoming the president of this political party. As a prominent leader of the struggle against apartheid, Zephaniah Mothopeng served two separate jail sentences on Robben Island, the latter in 1979 for threatening to overthrow the government, for which he was sentenced to 15 years.
Using various photographic languages, the artist attempts to construct a non-linear narrative that shows their maternal family's lasting kindredship.
Tshepiso Moropa
Born in 1995 in Pretoria, South Africa. Lives in Johannesburg , South Africa
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Dineelwane, 2024
Selekana le Modimo wa Noka. From Dineelwane, 2024
"Dineelwane," a Setswana word for fairy tales, is a body of work inspired by Setswana folktales and folklore. Through this artistic practice, the artist strives to bring these traditional narratives to life, bridging the gap between the past and the present and preserving the cultural heritage of the Setswana people. Central to this body of work is a deep respect and fascination for Setswana folklore, captivated by the stories' timeless wisdom, moral lessons, and magical elements. Each folktale holds a unique blend of history, cultural values, and the human experience, serving as a wellspring of inspiration for these artistic creations.
Beyond the aesthetic and storytelling aspects, "Dineelwane" is driven by a deep desire to preserve Setswana folklore and celebrate the cultural heritage of the Setswana people. Through this art, the artist aims to introduce these captivating tales to new audiences, fostering appreciation and understanding of Setswana culture's rich traditions and oral history. Engaging with these folklores in a contemporary context, the work hopes to create a dialogue between the past and the present, encouraging conversations about identity, heritage, and the importance of cultural preservation.
Even. Washed Out. From Genetic Bomb, 2023
"GENETIC BOMB" is a story that stems from a never-ending question about the past confronting the future. When part of a marginalized group, one tends to imagine better outcomes for their community. The story of "GENETIC BOMB," instead of focusing on the future, interrogates the roots of any potential future. Its premise is that every time anyone positively impacts the world around them, it changes their nature on a genetic level. This implies that the more people fight for change, the more they create generations capable of making their dreams of freedom a reality because it becomes embedded in their DNA. Conversely, when someone defends the status quo, their DNA remains unchanged. This sets the stage for an eventual social confrontation between the two groups, which will dictate the future of our species.
The artist's previous work discussed reinventing a boy's future from the Congolese diaspora in Belgium. For "GENETIC BOMB," they decided to travel to Congo for the second time and stay there for five months. This journey was a powerful way for the artist to make peace with themselves, their father, and their culture.
Beast of no Nation. From Heads of State, 2023
From the streets of the ghetto to the corridors of power in state capitols and parliaments shaping destinies in Africa and the world, portraits depict heads of state, bereft of conscience and crowned with the emptiness of leadership. "Heads of State" transcends traditional portraiture, visualising the heart of societal lamentation on leadership in Nigeria and the broader African context. Through a fusion of photography and artificial intelligence, the series unveils a stark representation of discontent with the prevailing political milieu, offering a scathing critique of leaders steering nations into hurricanes of horrors.
In this tapestry of despair, the collaborator becomes a symbolic vessel adorned in military camouflage and opulent accessories. Inspired by the military, these garments echo the pervasive influence of authoritative figures, while extravagant accessories metaphorize the unchecked affluence accompanying power. The deliberate choice to behead these figures is an unapologetic statement, symbolizing their perceived lack of acuity and ethical grounding in political pursuits. Substituting human heads with animals underscores the dehumanizing nature of their actions, conveying a profound sense of animality reflecting moral decay and base instincts.
"Heads of State" is a visceral experience, a raw exploration of collective anguish and disillusionment.
APIYO KEVINE: AGE 24 SELLING SWEET POTATO VINES FOR SEVEN YEARS. From HeadStrong: The Women of Rural Uganda, 2023
"HeadStrong" combines portraiture with first-person biographies of a cross-section of working women in rural Uganda who share their stories of war, perseverance, family commitment, and faith. Recognizing that each woman had a compelling story and aware of their outsider status, the artist partnered with Beatrice Lamwaka, an award-winning Ugandan author. Lamwaka interviewed each woman photographed and wrote narratives to accompany the portraits. What emerges is a realistic picture of how social circumstances, which favor patriarchy, perpetuate hardships for many women. This limits their financial stability and the educational opportunities for their female children, with school fees accounting for 60% of females not finishing school.
"HeadStrong" demonstrates the tenacity and agency of women who navigate the economic, paternalistic, and educational constraints that are part of their culture daily. An introduction to "HeadStrong" has been written by Dr. Stella Nyanzi, an exiled Ugandan writer, feminist, medical anthropologist, and queer rights advocate.
Xoliswa Ngwenya
Born in 1990 in Soweto, South Africa. Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
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I'm not an Embarrassment, 2023
Untitled. From I'm not an Embarrassment, 2023
An alarming surge in femicide and gender-based violence (GBV) has created an urgent need for comprehensive and meaningful action. As a township resident and Black man, personal encounters with ostracization in discussions surrounding these issues spurred the artist's compassion and curiosity, propelling them towards this project. This endeavour delves into unravelling the pervasive influence of patriarchy in our lives. Despite the advocacy and efforts of feminist organizations, violence against women persists. With the President declaring femicide a national crisis and GBV remaining an epidemic impacting women and children, the project aims to foster dialogue between men and women, challenging the pillars of patriarchy and investigating potential contributors to such violence.
Acknowledging that awareness alone may not suffice, the project seeks to initiate uncomfortable, honest conversations between genders in a collective effort to eradicate GBV. Confronting traditions and cultural influences, it aspires to transform societal narratives and instigate change. Through these findings, the artist envisions sparking a dialogue for collective healing and dismantling marginalization. Rejecting the notion of inherent male violence, they assert that individuals are products of their environment. They catalyze change, advocating for a society where compassion, understanding, and respect triumph.
This work aims to contribute to a broader movement striving for a safer, equal world, ensuring a brighter future free from the shackles of violence and discrimination for generations to come.
Kalenga Nkonge
Born in 1972 in Zambezi, Zambia. Lives in Lusaka, Zambia
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Barbershops, fresh popcorn and chickens in the land of plenty, 2024
I hope she felt fly. From Barbershops, fresh Popcorn and chickens in the land of plenty, 2024
Waiting for the next customer, he takes in the scene. Barbershops, hair salons, makeshift restaurants, car washers, printing, and internet cafes populate Lusaka. In markets and humble stalls outside their homes, communities sell tomatoes, vegetables, chickens, and eggs—anything that can be a source of income. Colourful advertisements painted on the walls of houses and shops entice customers. Contrary to the extravagant display of opulence with expensive European cars and luxurious mansions dotting suburban Zambian landscapes, this is not the life experienced by most of the population. Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a poverty rate of 54%. Formal employment, a gateway to financial stability, remains elusive, pushing individuals to create their means of survival.
Driving a cab as a part-time job, he finds himself in all corners of Lusaka, from Sunningdale to Bauleni. Yet, he finds the highly populated areas like Kalingalinga and Mtendere, vibrant, loud, and full of life, more interesting. He negotiates these spaces daily: Kabwata, Lilanda, Chilenje, Obama, Kamwala, Matero. These are the places where he disappears, where he feels at home.
Cletus Nelson NwadikE
Born in 1966 in Nigeria, Nigeria. Lives in Aneby, Sweden.
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From Nigeria to Nässjö, 2022
Untitled. From Nigeria to Nässjö, 2022
His mother died on September 26, 2021. She never got to see four of her grandchildren, as she was refused a visa to visit them. The reason given was that he did not make enough money. As a photographer, he created this work to honor his mother.
Chrono's Enigma. From Out of Breath, 2023
The project revolves around the deterioration of imaging substances and how they transform into new forms over time. This interest began when the artist stumbled upon a family album amid other books in a storeroom. The intended captured moments and memories in the archive had shifted towards abstraction due to humidity and mildew. The artist investigates the materiality of imaging substances through experimentation. By employing various approaches to working, artistic production becomes a resource to explore the crisis in photographic prints that birth multiple possibilities.
The project encompasses photography and painting, embracing the emancipatory potential of fiction. These materialize through harnessing different times and spaces guided by analogies, just as the photo album holds different moments in other times to explore alternative realities that establish new relations. In responding to the concept of decay, the artist engages in a fictional play of manipulating images by causing materials to transform, resulting in pictures that appear foxed, ripped, spot-faded, and/or riddled with amorphous chromatic shapes. This process establishes connections between factual and fictional, past and present, and bridges gaps between the existing spaces within and without the work.
The Escape Hatch. From The Escape Hatch, 2023
"The Escape Hatch" is a series of portraits taken inside the Central Prison of Douala in Cameroon. Since 2018, the artist has been working inside the prison on a music and art project. During these years, they observed how the closest companion of incarceration is the idea of freedom. Inmates live in a state of tension between captivity and freedom, constantly projecting towards the day they will finally be free. Inspired by this connection, the artist decided to create a work that explores these themes.
The result is a series that touches upon memory, desire, dreams, and the power of imagination. This series of portraits is born out of conversations the artist had with some of the inmates they were working with, particularly focusing on their responses to the question: "If you could be free right now, where would you want to be?" Each inmate had a different answer, usually reflecting their past, aspirations, and future dreams.
The artist painted the scenes of each answer with a collective of incarcerated painters, creating a series of paintings of these personal 'freedom landscapes'. They then photographed each subject using their painting as a backdrop, capturing them inside their imagined landscape.
Untitled. From Holiday, 2023
"We lift our foot from the solid ground of all our life lived thus far and take that perilous step out into the empty air. Not because we can claim any particular courage, but because there is no other way." - Han Kang, 흰
"Holiday" is a reckoning with pain. At twenty-three, a part of the artist felt as though it slipped away, pale and brief, through the cracks of terror. As a shard, a fragment, a collection of moments, they picked up their grandfather's camera and arrived at their life as a foreigner. "Holiday" was photographed over nineteen months, a documentary project narrating post-traumatic stress disorder. During this time, the artist followed their family members, rearranging their body language to match the pictures inside their heads, often surreal and storied. If the artist were a butterfly, they would be seen as a half-winged creature suspended in the air. In perpetuity.
HW and Olwethu after a long day herding cattle on horseback. Elandslaagte, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 2021. (Gazing down on these two young boys filled me with nostalgia and remind me of my childhood.) From The Land Project, 2022
Land is incredibly political in South Africa: the ownership of land, who works the land, who profits from it, its value to the economy. True as this may be, I long to understand what transcends our differences, what connects our nation rather than dividing us. This passion evolved into "The Land Project". As the project grew, I met many people and toured new places across the country. I examined the contentious topics of land in South Africa, looking to make sense of what I knew and was learning. Limited to my own experiences as someone who was raised on a farm in Kwa-Zulu Natal, I attempted to gain further insight from others. The network of people and places that became the subjects of this project naturally shifted its narrative from an individualistic view to an exploration of our common ground. The images from this project stand alone to communicate their own stories. However, as a collection, the project highlights how South Africans must share one space while navigating the complex intermingling and sharing of different cultures, values and perspectives.
The rebirth of Venus. From Mixedness is my Mythology, 2024
"Mixedness is My Mythology" explores the historical relationship between South Africa and the Netherlands, focusing on the connections and contradictions of migration, ethnicity, colonialism, and apartheid. The artist was born in South Africa in 1993, the official last year of the apartheid era, which classified them as Coloured. Growing up in the Netherlands created a point of intersectionality, connecting the African diaspora and European culture. Identity is personal and multifaceted, inspiring the artist to create work with their family.
The conscious choice of black-and-white analogue photography references the historical, anthropological, and inhumane images of people of colour in Africa that supported ideas on race and legalized oppression. Being neither black nor white, a person of colour is a shade of grey in which everything is possible. In this grey area, the artist uses photography to reclaim and redefine what being a person of colour means. This body of work shows a reconciliation and acceptance of their mixed identity. By forging their iconography, they are creating their family's mythology. It is an ode to being Coloured.
Khanya ZibayA
Born in 1994 in Mount Fletcher, South Africa. Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
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My Father was White and Rich, 2023
Iconoclast. From My Father was White and Rich, 2023
"What the world does to you if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do it to yourself." - James Baldwin
"My Father Was White and Rich" examines the distorted construction of global histories in an African context and the delicate facade created to reveal and conceal "truths." Like political campaign posters losing their layers, revealing a new sinister meaning, this work delves into the complexities of representation and historical narrative.
The artist merges self-portraits with images of different world leaders, questioning their representation in colonial histories and exploring the notion that we are all the same yet different. This project prompts reflection on what the artist might have done if given the same opportunities. African histories have been warped by imperialism for hundreds of years, and the artist aims to disrupt our consumption of these archives, constructing reimagined possibilities by scratching away at the very authors of history. They ponder the possibility of seeing from another's perspective and ask: who would these new leaders be?
