Nine artists across Southern Africa, including Eswatini’s top talent, are set to score E112,000 (€6,000) each through the newly launched Folklore Futures initiative.
Supported by the Goethe-Institut and the European Union, the regional project is calling on local dancers, musicians, photographers, and curators to turn Swati traditions into cutting-edge contemporary stage and digital productions.
However, Eswatini Theatre Club Vice Chairperson Sizo Hlophe issued a candid reality check to local performers aiming for the payout: the Goethe-Institut is handling selection, and local talent won’t get a pass on low effort.
“The Goethe-Institut will handle selection and not the Theatre Club. If our standards as the kingdom are low, our creatives may not get the funding.” Hlophe warned, urging local creatives to step up their game.
Selected artists will receive travel, accommodation, and direct grant funding over six months, including a one-week retreat for narrative development and two joint working sessions with the full interdisciplinary group, and six-monthonline co-creation leading to a final regional showcase.
Applicants must be 18+, live in one of the six participating nations (Eswatini, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, or Zimbabwe), and have at least 3 years of professional experience. Submissions require a CV, portfolio, artist statement, and project proposal.
Photographers, musicians, curators and contemporary dance artists are invited to join Folklore Futures, a collaborative project that reimagines Swazi life, culture and identity through photography, performance and music.
The project will bring together nine selected artists to create work inspired by memory, place, movement, sound and lived experience, celebrating cultural heritage while exploring how it can be interpreted and imagined for the future.
Applications close on October 5, 2026, strictly on the Goethe Application Portal (GAP).
