Out Of Africa: Open Call For AfricaMuseum (AfriMus) 2026 Residency Programme

AfriMus Residency Explores Decolonisation, Heritage, and Innovation in African Musicology

African musicians and sound artists are invited to apply for the AfricaMuseum (AfriMus) musical residency, a programme designed to highlight contemporary urban and electronic music scenes from the continent. The residency is organised by the AfricaMuseum in Belgium in collaboration with Uganda’s Nyege Nyege and South Africa’s The Black Power Station.

Objectives of the Residency:

• Strengthen the capacities, visibility, access to professional opportunities, and network of African musicians and disseminate these cultural coproductions with the AfricaMuseum through digital/multimedia channels.
• Support the creation of audiovisual projects such as a video clip, video podcast, documentary, etc. by musicians and sound artists.
• Provoke discussions and dialogues on musical heritage and contribute to the resounding and revival of the collection.
• Research period by musicians and sound artists at the AfricaMuseum for the realization of the audiovisual projects and facilitate the valorisation of sound archives and collections to the international public.
• Develop new concepts on creation, restitution and the decolonisation of ethnographic museum archives and collections through musical and research activities.
• AfriMus invites a single, selected candidate to Belgium to create a space for reflection, or to create work related to the museum’s collections; to consider questions of identity, the history of the collections, and the musical practices of the countries of origin.

The residency offers:

• A budget to support an audiovisual production (videoclip, video podcast, documentary etc) in Africa with a local team during March – June.
• A residency at the AfricaMuseum for 4 weeks between September and October 2026. Travel costs, accommodation, per diem and fees (lump sum/week) will be covered by the AfricaMuseum.

During the residency in Belgium, a budget is foreseen for a finalised audiovisual/auditory work to be displayed to the public.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

• Reside in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, or South Africa.
• Hold a valid passport for travel to Europe.
• Be English or French-speaking.
• Have no age limit restrictions.
• Be engaged in African electronic music or sound-based practices.

Application Requirements

Applications must be submitted by Friday 14th November 2025 to stephanie.booto@africamuseum.be and remy.jadinon@africamuseum.be, with the following subject line: Audiovisual production AfriMus 2026 Afrika.

A complete application must include:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV).
• Copy of a valid passport.
• Motivation letter.
• Portfolio (PDF or online link) with at least three audio-visual works.
• Project proposal and budget for the African audio-visual production, including crew references.
• Project proposal and budget for the Belgian residency, including a detailed work plan.

The AfriMus residency aims to renew and expand the AfricaMuseum’s extensive musicology collections, which include 37,000 sound recordings, 20,000 photographs, 9,000 musical instruments, and archives documenting Central African musical traditions. The project seeks to connect these historical materials with current African musical practices.

Find out more about the Residency and application requirements here.