Cimarron 2025 competition rules: an opportunity for Afro-descendant artists

The “Cimarron 2025” exhibition provides a unique platform for African, Afro-descendant, Caribbean, Pacific and Mascarene artists to present their works to an international audience. The event, which will be held online in March 2025, is accompanied by an artistic residency in Belgium in January 2026 for two selected artists.

Conditions of participation

To be eligible for this call for projects, artists must meet the following conditions:

Origin: Being from a country in Africa, the Caribbean or creolized territories.
Age: Be 18 years or older.
Language: Master French or English.
Artistic field: Work in the field of visual art (painting, sculpture, photography, digital art, etc.) or any other artistic medium.

Application file

Interested artists must submit their application by completing the Googleform form “Cimarron Art Exhibition 2025” or by email via the box provided in the call for Applications video.

Key dates

Deadline for submission of applications: January 31, 2025.
Selection of artists for the exhibition: January 20, 2025.
Official opening of the exhibition: March 8, 2025.
Announcement of the two artists selected for the artistic residency: October 30, 2025.
Artistic residency in Belgium: January 2026.

Applications Session #01 - Closed

See the Finalists

Selection criteria

A jury composed of gallery owners, artists and art experts will evaluate the applications according to the following criteria:

Artistic quality: The works must present a high technical and aesthetic quality, with coherence in the artistic approach.
Thematic relevance: The works must reflect contemporary issues relevant to the regions of Africa and Creole Spaces, and demonstrate sensitivity to social and cultural issues.
Innovation and originality: The project must demonstrate an innovative approach to artistic creation, particularly in the use of digital technologies. (non-restrictive criterion)

Artistic residency

The two selected artists will benefit from a 10-day artistic residency in Belgium, at the Galerie Non Peut-Etre, which includes:

Accommodation and art studio.
Round trip travel costs.
Residence grant to cover daily expenses.
Post-residency exhibition in a partner European gallery.

Copyright and use of works

Artists retain intellectual property and copyright of their works. However, the event organizers reserve the right to use images of the selected works for promotional purposes.