Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) and Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation are delighted to announce that they have been awarded a transformative $220,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art. This significant two-year funding will support two major cross-cultural initiatives at G.A.S. residency locations in Ijebu and Lagos, fostering cultural exchange, ecological engagement, and archival preservation.
Tomato crops growing in greenhouses at the Ecoogy Green Farm, Ikise. Photographer: Olanrewaju Ali.
At the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, the grant will fund CULTIVATION: Art, Environment & Materiality, a two-year programme introducing 10 residencies for American-based artists, particularly those with Indigenous, African, or multicultural heritage. These residencies will facilitate interdisciplinary exploration across the arts, ecology, agriculture, and sustainable material practices, fostering meaningful exchanges between artists, intellectuals, and local communities.
Residents and guests engaging with the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive.
Meanwhile, at G.A.S. Lagos, the funding will establish the African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab) and Conference, an initiative dedicated to fostering intra-African and global collaboration on African and Afro-diasporic library collections. Through a series of international workshops and collective experimentation sessions, the AAL Lab will convene archivists, librarians, artists, curators, and cultural institutions to explore innovative approaches to preservation and restitution. This initiative will culminate in a landmark two-day interdisciplinary conference, bringing together scholars, publishers, and practitioners to examine restitution, with a focus on underrepresented African and Afro-diasporic archival publications.
Aligned with the Terra Foundation’s commitment to generating knowledge, centring excluded voices, and fostering inclusive and equitable practices, these initiatives challenge conventional narratives while strategically expanding dialogues around American art through interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-continental exchange.
ABOUT TERRA FOUNDATION
The Terra Foundation for American Art, established in 1978 and having offices in Chicago and Paris, supports organizations and individuals locally and globally with the aim of offering intercultural dialogues and encouraging transformative practices that expand narratives of American art, through the foundation’s grant program, collection, and initiatives.
For press enquiries please contact magda@yinkashonibarefoundation.com.