Visualizing Human Rights Online in Africa

Our lives online are intricately linked with our economic and social lives in the physical world- we express ourselves, learn and grow, work, create value, build relationships, and earn our livelihoods through our online activities. In this increasingly connected world, digital rights have become fundamental to our daily lives. These rights encompass our ability to feel safe and secure online, to access and create digital media, and to freely communicate across networks. 

However, our digital rights and identities face numerous threats. From corporate surveillance to laws censoring or shutting down online platforms, from targeted harassment to the digital divide, the challenges are complex.

While there are activists, lawyers, and technologists who are pushing for policy changes to safeguard our digital rights, their efforts often struggle to resonate with the broader public. This is why we're turning to artists to bridge this divide, transforming complex debates about technology into compelling narratives and visuals that highlight the real-world impact of digital rights issues. Artists have a unique power to shed light on how issues such as online censorship, surveillance and harassment impact individuals and communities, to spark conversations and imagine alternative technological futures, and to inspire change and activism.

We are inviting artists and creatives from across Africa to submit proposals for commissioned artwork that explores and reflects on major digital rights issues affecting the people in your country. This call is open to artists working in various media, including painting, mixed media, photography, music/audio/sound, video/multimedia, sculpture, installation, recorded performance, satire/comics, wearables, and digital art. We welcome creative approaches to representation of technological threats or imagining digital futures. We also welcome collaborations between artists using different media or between artists and activists working on these issues. Pieces that have already been produced can also be submitted for consideration if they apply to the thematic criteria below.

Selected pieces will receive funding for commission and production throughout 2024-2025, culminating in a gallery exhibition in Fall 2025. 

Themes

We invite artists to reflect on the inequities, challenges, and potential solutions surrounding technology and society in Africa under four key categories:

1. Privacy and Surveillance

• Corporate data collection and harvesting practices

• State surveillance

• The importance of online privacy and legal protections

2. Online Censorship and Internet Shutdowns

• Government-imposed restrictions on internet access

• Social media blocking

• Effects on free expression and access to information

3. Gender-Based Online Violence and Targeted Harassment

• Cyberbullying & online harassment targeting women and other marginalized groups

• Digital security threats faced by activists and journalists

• Concepts around creating safe online spaces

4. Internet Access and Affordability

• The barriers to fully experiencing the benefits of the internet

• The digital divide between urban and rural areas, gender, or groups of people

• Economic barriers to internet access

Timeline

• Submission Deadline: January 15, 2024

• Selection, Commission and Production Period: February- August 2025

• Gallery Exhibition: September 2025

How to Apply

Please submit your application through the official proposal form. In the form, you will be asked information about yourself & your experience as it relates to this program. You will specifically be asked to provide the following:

1. Proposal for artwork.

1. Artist statement (max 6000 characters or ~750 words)

   • This statement should describe your past work as an artist/creator, demonstrating your experience working in your medium of choice and describing the audience for your work. You should also note why you are submitting to this call for proposals and your interest in using art to discuss online issues and human rights. Please also describe how you would like this work to live beyond the Sep 2025 exhibition- through your own distribution of the work online or offline or in continuation of the work’s themes.

2. Concept description.

• A description of the concept & proposed medium to be used (max 3,500 characters or ~500 words)

• Please include sketches if this is helpful in illustrating your concept (these images can be uploaded in the application form)

• If you are submitted a piece that has already been produced, please include images (these images can be uploaded within the application form)

• A description of how the concept seeks to address at least one of the following thematic topics (max 2,000 characters or ~250 words)

• Online privacy & surveillance

• Censorship & internet shutdowns

• Gender-based violence online & targeted online harassment

• Internet Accessibility 

• A description of how this piece would be displayed/experienced in a live exhibition context (max 1,000 characters or ~150 words)

• A description of how this piece could be displayed/experienced by an online audience (max 1,000 characters or ~150 words)

3. Estimated budget

• Budget should include labor & material costs for production of the piece. 

4. A detailed Timeline for production 

   • Production timelines should begin in Feb/Mar 2025 and end with the exhibition in Sep 2025

2. Portfolio of previous work (max 5 pieces)- Previous works can be submitted as attachments within the application form or as an uploaded document with links and photos

3. Artist CV/Resume- to be uploaded as a pdf or doc within the application form

Proposals will be accepted until January 15, 2024 via the proposal form here. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

For questions on the submission process or concepts, please email laura@curiousshapes.org. 

This international exhibtion is sponsored by Curious Shapes and the Uproar programme.