Open call: Pan-African Creative Exchange 2025

PACE 2025 will take place within the first two weeks of July 2025, with exact dates to be announced as soon as they become available.

PACE has three performance strands:

Tour-Ready: The work is up to a 60-minute extract by professional artists and companies. Tour-Ready means that as a company/artist, artists have experience of touring and have a product that is artistically and technically ready to share with promoters and which will be prepared to tour.

Work-in-Progress: The presentation is up to a 45-minute original piece at a critical stage in its development. Work-in-Progress means that as a company/artist, applicants have a product in development that is thought through and artistically ready to share. Although in the initial stages and may need further development, the work is something applicants are committed to taking on further.

Pitch sessions: The pitch is where an artist is granted 10 minutes (or seven minutes in the Speed Networking Pitch Series) to present Tour-Ready or Work-in-Progress projects for which it is not possible for the entire cast/production to travel to South Africa to showcase it live (and so a lead artist pitches the project with video/visual materials) or artists can present ideas and concepts in the early days of development. Pitching means sharing video/visual materials and information about Tour-Ready or Work-in-Progress projects that cannot be showcased live or sharing original ideas that an artist as a company/artist wish to develop further, but at this stage, the idea is formed, and artists can talk about the artistic idea/influences that will lead to the final production.

If chosen to be part of PACE, you/your company will be given one slot to present your work in the strand that the selection committee feels would be best to present your work in. This might be a different strand than you have indicated in your application.

 Eligibility:

• Artists whose work responds to contemporary Africa.
• Work must be either tour-ready, a work-in-progress, or a concept in the early stages of development.
• Work must be from artists or companies based on the African continent or, for a limited number of places, part of the African diaspora.
• PACE recognises the African diaspora, which includes people of African descent living outside of the African continent, such as in the Americas, Oceania, Asia, and Europe, and has been officially recognised by the African Union (AU) as its sixth African region.

 Interested artists should apply here before 9 September. The outcome of decisions will be sent to all applicants by 31 January 2025.

Applicants who would like to discuss their suitability for PACE, should do so via email at info@vrystaatkunstefees.co.za.