Application is now open for the 2024 edition of the largest and longest-running yearly art festival in Nigeria, Life In My City Arts Festival (LIMCAF). LIMCAF commenced in 2007 to encourage artistic creativity through empowering aspiring young artists, male and female including persons living with disability not older than 35 years.
LIMCAF has been a special purpose vehicle for discovering young artists and a springboard into professionalism, while providing a platform for advocacy of social issues such as gender equity and domestic violence.
Featuring exhibitions, lectures, an art and craft fair and workshops, in addition to the fine art competition in various categories, it has a ₦1million Grand Prize.
The 2024 festival has as theme, Humanism.The theme seeks to explore the qualities that make us human. It demands the spirit of altruism and a determination in pursuit of the common good in all. It demands that we take our destiny in our hands by truly being human in our relationship to one another and the environment.
The festival competition is open to all artists who will not be more than 35 years of age on October 26, 2024 and who have been residing/studying/working in Nigeria for at least five years prior to the application. New categories have been added, specifically for female artists, persons with challenge and younger artists.
The categories are Painting/Mixed Media, Sculpture/Installation Art, Ceramics, Graphics/ Photography, Digital Art/ Video, Textile/ Fashion Design and Drawing.
According to the organising committee all applications must be submitted online in the first instance. In a statement issued to announce the competition, it said, “the importance of the quality of the photographs of works, which are submitted with entries. The deadline for completed application forms with receipt and artworks is May 31, 2024. Works not received online on or before the deadline will not be accepted.”
Applicants whose works are selected from the online entries will be notified and invited to submit actual works to the Regional Exhibition Centres. The overall winner gets ₦1,000,000. Others are, Best Painting/Mixed Media (₦500,000), Best Sculpture/Installation Art – ₦500,000, Best Ceramics – ₦500,000, Best Graphics/Digital Art – ₦500,000, Photography/Video – ₦500,000, Best Textile Art/Fashion – ₦500,000, Drawing – ₦500,000, Consolation Prizes – ₦50,000 each, Most Creative Female Artist – ₦500,000 and Special Award for Person with Disability – ₦500,000.
For the endowed prizes winners are also expected to get sums ranging from N150,000 to N300,000.
In case of Justice Anthony Aniagolu Prize, ₦300,000 is at stake. Dr Pius Okigbo Prize – ₦150,000, Mfom Usoro Prize for the Best Entry from Uyo Centre – ₦200,000, VinMartin Ilo Prize for Best Entry from Enugu Region – ₦200,000 and Felicia Okoroafor Prize for Most Promising Female Artist – ₦200,000. The best six at the festival have opportunity to be at Dak’Art Biennale courtesy of the Ghanaian master, El Anatsui.
