- Fund established ahead of African LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in October 2022
- Moroccan fashion designer Anwar Bougroug is the mentor for this year
Multi-disciplinary creative agency, Banana Emoji, has launched a month-long residency designed to support LGBTQIA+ creative entrepreneurs.
Styled the Banana Club Artist Fund, the residency will enjoy the support of Banana Club for the benefit of artists in the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Founder and Creative Director of Banana Club, Tanlume Enyatseng, explains: “We are thrilled to announce our very first Banana Club Artist Fund. When we speak of building an archive of Botswana artists, we need to first get the artists to create and give them the platforms to show their work.”
Financial support
“As Banana Club we wish to develop a space for emerging queer artists to receive financial support, mentorship and opportunities to create and sell their work. Our first artist in residency is fashion designer, Troy Gabolwelwe of Versa La Troy, who will develop a capsule collection to be showcased during African LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in October 2022.”
As a community-based initiative, the programme will support artists in the form of creative direction in their projects, financial support to buy material, PR and marketing and curation of their exhibitions.
The month-long residency is designed to offer guidance in the form of mentorship from an established international artist and is honoured to have Moroccan Creative Director and Fashion Designer, Anwar Bougroug of eponymous fashion house, Bougroug, as this year’s mentor.
Commune
Said Enyatseng: “Banana Club is driven to continue to explore and advance the work of African LGBTQIA+ artists and artisans. We are delighted to have an internationally recognised industry leader such as Anwar as a mentor for our very first residency. There is a powerful intention behind this space – bringing African creatives together to commune and support each other around the ritual of making it through design.”