ART AFRICA has announced an open call for the second edition of its NEW FUTURES ARTS COLLABORATIVE, scheduled for 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The residency, titled "De-composition, Extraction and Regeneration," invites artists to collectively explore themes of extractivism, ecological crisis, and social justice, using artistic practice as a tool for transformation and regeneration.
The initiative matters because it positions artistic practice as a critical response to interconnected global crises—environmental, economic, social, and political. By focusing on decomposition and composting as metaphors for systemic change, the program challenges dominant extractive logics and fosters collaborative, pluralistic approaches to art-making and activism. It reflects a growing trend in the art world toward socially engaged, ecologically conscious residencies that prioritize collective action over individual production.