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We believe in rewarding creativity

Born out of our mission to support the upcoming generation of African creatives, every month we will be awarding a one-time contribution of £100 to support an African creative with no strings attached.

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The application process

for the #NCFund is changing

We are thrilled to announce that you can now submit your application directly on NewComma using our Job Board feature. Say goodbye to pasting project links in your form, as it is now automatically extracted from your NewComma profile. This means more time to focus on what you love – creating exceptional projects.

How to Apply

Sign Up

Sign Up

Create an account on newcomma.com

Join New Comma
Create

Create

Three projects in your newcomma digital portfolio

Learn how to create a project
Apply

Apply

Fill in the form on fund.newcomma.com

Create a project
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Criteria

Criteria to Apply

NewComma Criteria

Be of African descent (living in or outside the continent)

NewComma Criteria

Be a practising creative

NewComma Criteria

Must be signed up to NewComma

Top Tips NC Fund

ApplicantsNew Comma

NC Fund Tip
Your creative project must be uploaded on NewComma to be eligible!

Judges will only be considering applications with NewComma project links. You can use the embed block to add your work from YouTube, Figma, Spotify etc. in your NewComma project ahead of your submission.

Creative effort goes a really long way!

Show you really care about what you're creating by adding the finest details in your project and the process behind making it in the NewComma projects you submit

Be as specific as you can about your rationale

Within your application, provide as much detail as you can about how the £100 micro-grant you will support your creative endeavours

Promote your project

Share links to your NewComma projects with the hashtag #NCFund for greater visibility of your amazing creative work!

NewComma Fund Recipients

New Comma

Charles Agyepong

Charles is a Ghanaian Multidisciplinary Artist and Creative Director of @_steaze. His project #MadeInStyle “seeks to push out self positivity, self love and individual uniqueness. The aim is to be a source of encouragement to anyone truly doing their best. I created these artworks to push the message of letting people know they are #MadeInStyle and that no one can tell them otherwise.”

@charlesagyp

JUNE 2022

Lindsey Abudei

Nigerian-born Lindsey Abudei is a singer-songwriter and improv vocal composer influenced by diverse genres— Rock, Blues, Jazz & R&B — shaped into a genre-fluid, contemporary sound. For her #NCFund Submission, she shared some of her beautiful music and intends to use her grant to create some digital assets for her upcoming EP 'Kaleidoscope'! Born and raised in Jos, Nigeria, by parents with rich musical tastes, she is inspired by artists like Roberta Flack, The Beach Boys, Sade, Eva Cassidy, Sarah McLachlan, and Lauryn Hill.

@misslind_sea

AUGUST 2022

Farai Mudzingwa

Zimbabwean Farai Mudzingwa is a director, journalist and content creator. For his #NCFund Submission, he shared videos from his “Story Untold” series that shines a light on Zimbabwean entrepreneurs, creatives and athletes. His mission to elevate creatives is definitely one that aligns with ours at NewComma.

@Farim9

SEPTEMBER 2022

Nkhuwemi Kumwenda

Malawian Nkhuwemi Kumwenda is a digital artist and currently doing an Honours Degree in Illustration at Stellenbosch University. For her #NCFund Submission, she shared some of the characters she crocheted for her stop motion animation “The Folktales of Kalulu the Hare” for her final degree project.⁣

@nkhuku

OCTOBER 2022

Lauriane Almeda

Lauriane Almeda is an Angolan Creative Director, Writer, Filmmaker and Producer.⁣ She is also Miss Global Angola 2019, Miss Angola Benelux 2nd Runner Up, and Founder of @almedamodels Productions⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣. For her #NCFund submission, she shared details on “Na Zongi” - a short film about three individuals that face obstacles while trying to find their way back home after being lost. ⁣ Na Zongi means 'I am back' in Lingala her native language that is spoken in Congo and parts of Angola. The short film will be fully spoken in Lingala with English subtitles.⁣

@laulau

DECEMBER 2022

Tantolohun Ayanda

Tantolohun Ayanda is a Nigerian filmmaker and photographer. For his #NCFund submission, he shared details on his short film 'He Said', based on a real-life story, about how a woman fell into a deceitful relationship and contracted HIV/AIDS. It also explores the themes of heartbreak, depression, loneliness, and hate.

@tantolohun

JANUARY 2023

Kamau Wainaina

Kamau Wainaina is a Kenyan multidisciplinary artist and musician. ⁣⁣For his #NCFund submission, he shared details on his latest single 'Ghost'. The song captures the frustration and pain that typically comes after a breakup. 'I wrote Ghost at a time when I was processing the more painful elements of a recent breakup, and I distinctly remember this cold and empty feeling of being in social settings pretending to be okay and keep composed amidst a heavy uncertainty about where my life was headed.'

@maufromnowhere

FEBRUARY 2023

Paballo Mokwena

Paballo Mokwena is a South African multidisciplinary storyteller. In her own words: 'To experiment and make sense of the world allows me to reflect it back to its people, and I do so through different artistic practices. Growing up in a developing town that doesn't recognise the Arts, I always felt most alive when we had the opportunity to put on or watch school productions! Whether it was a choir performance, or the plays that brought us closer to our calling, I just knew that I wanted to learn and delve deeper into this dimension.' For her #NCFund submission, she shared details on her short film 'Equilibrium'. It centres around 22 year old Retha who is a visual fanatic, whose visual perceptions and personality are determined by the kind of camera she uses. She has successfully hosted public screenings in Johannesburg at the Africa Rising International Film Festival, Soweto Book Cafe, Actor Spaces, Girls in Film, The bioscope Independent Cinema, Atlas Studios, Pod Magazine and iQhawe Magazine! 'Equilibrium' also received a nomination for 'Best Short Film' at the Budapest Film Festival, as well as involvements in the Mental Filmness Festival in Chicago, Detroit Black Film Festival, First time filmmaker sessions by Lift off Global Network (UK), Bakunawa Arts Festival, and Reel to Reality film Festival hosted by Behind Her Lens (South Africa)

@kwenapblo

MARCH 2023

Aidan Peters

Aidan Peters is an award winning designer with a focus in fashion design, product design, film and visual arts. For his #NCFund submission, he shared details on his “Denim don’t die” fashion project. In his own words: "Through its long and storied history, what happens to the Denim Jeans we find no purpose for anymore? When the indigo fades or threads pull loose or the cut is ‘just not who we are right now; Where Does Denim Die? This question of sustainability kept me curious about how this iconic garment could find a place in a changing world. A world aware of its usage and concerned for its future. As technology betters we find ways to produce denim jeans that are much less harmful to the environment than before but what can we do with the denim already made, already discarded and forgotten? With the ‘Where Does Denim Die?’ question I hoped to create an ensemble that can illustrate the versality of Denim Jeans. How Denim could be altered, deconstructed and upcycled to create items of new value and of new functionality. Turning old jeans into a pleated skirt and upcycling a denim jacket This ensemble took dead denim and gave it a new casing, a new silhouette and a different identity. Denim don’t die."

@klnmuis

APRIL 2023

Oteng Kopiso

The Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist's background lies in visual art, covering the traditional mediums of charcoal, graphite and pen, as well as acrylics and watercolours. More recently, however, Kopiso has expanded her artistic practice into bookbinding, curatorship and digital art. For Kopiso, just like the ever-expanding universe, there is no limit to how and about what she makes art. For her #NCFund submission, she told us about ORACLE - an experimental artist book, published by @Pulp.Paperworks. It is an ode to the book arts, and is her first artist book. An artist book is a book that is considered as an artwork and challenges the conventional form of a book. Bound with jump rings, the books' binding style allows any page within the text block to be adorned as the cover. The publication-project includes and encompasses elements of bookbinding, fine art (drawing), graphic design, desktop publishing & design, jewellery design, craftmaking, writing and editing. The Oracle books are being sold at Oteng’s collaborative, Pulp Paperworks at Victoria Yards, Lorentzville, Johannesburg.

@otengkopiso

MAY 2023

Viola Dodoo

Viola Dodoo is a traditional and digital artist, muralist and illustrator. For her #NCFund submission, she shared her acrylic on canvas piece that portrays a black woman as a fantasy character; an elf. It reflects her interest in marrying modern elements with an eclectic mix of inspirations that speak to her distinctive aesthetic.

@violatheartist

JUNE 2023

Tracy Arthur

This illustration originally started off as an Independence Day project from March 2023, but stretched on to mark African Union day when Tracy drew the woman on the left for an artistic innovation competition.

@slimm

JULY 2023

Ronita Awoonor-Gordon

Throughout rap history, brand name drops and designated styling teams have been essential to a rapper's success. Being a rapper is now more than just the lyrics you write. This documentary Ronita directed for GRM Daily explores the synergy between the music and fashion world. 

@ronitasworld

AUGUST 2023

Attari Omuho

Attari will use the #NCFund to build stronger bonds with his community by providing affordable merchandise for Nairobi Comic Con. 

@dipvulgar

SEPTEMBER 2023

Munotida Chinyanga

Munotida Chinyanga is an Anti-Disciplinary Practitioner & Experience Designer creating work primarily through Creative Direction & Sound Design. She is an innovator who works non-conventionally to create original concepts/ formats that speak on pop-culture trends, empowering brands to develop authentic connections with their audiences. 

@allidoisart

OCTOBER 2023

Tito Mogaji

Tailored for a new generation of Black-British creatives, the Breathing Room was a space by nourishment for members to co-work, network, collaborate. And by doing so, breathe life into their ideas. It ran over 3 Fridays between Feb 2023 and March 2023. 

@titomw

NOVEMBER 2023

Noelie Hounzanme

The objective of Sk8Hub was always one of growth (Each one, Teach one) - creating a community of like-minded dancers and skaters who are keen to elevate in this art form together. This month’s #NCFund will go towards organising a London-based rollerskating conference in January 2024. 

@sk8hubldn

DECEMBER 2023

Imisi Peletu

Peletu is working on her most meaningful track ‘Twenty One’, a Neo Soul, Gospel influenced spacious, soulful storytelling moment with musical theatre elements. Written with a group of fantastic musicians and her wonderful friends, ‘Twenty One’ is a coming of age story that earnestly describes the raw, honest and genuine emotions and feelings that come with self discovery, insecurity and actualisation in young adulthood.

@imisipeletu

JANUARY 2024

Lebo Thoka

Lebo's project will be an exploration of the journey to representing the spirit in the physical. Through the use of textile (wool and hessian) she intends to create a series of abstract textile works that bring her own ideations of spiritual forms to exist in a physical state.

@lebothk

FEBRUARY 2024

Sinatra Chumo

Sinatra is a Visual Artist with experience in multiple facets, currently focusing on Graphic Design. He intends to continue using his craft in visual communication and problem solving for his various projects, just as he has in this brand identity for Neptune’s Nosh.

@sinatrachumo

MARCH 2024

Peter Tsiane

African Spituality (2023) was a project Peter worked on in partnership with Market Photo Workshop. It explores how family relations can inspire stigmas with spiritual beliefs; and sends the message that those wishing to heal themselves, must also consider their ancestors.

@doingmeforaliving

APRIL 2024

New Comma

Applications for this cycle closes 31st October, 2024, at 18:00 GMT.

Shoot us a DM or email us at [email protected]

if you’ve got any questions!

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