About Alodia Arts

African creativity deserves to be seen, supported and sustained.

Africa has stories worth telling, artists worth discovering, and creative traditions that deserve to be carried forward. Its people continue to document their lives, interpret their history, preserve their cultures and imagine new possibilities through art.

Yet talent alone is not enough. Creatives also need platforms to share their work, opportunities to develop their skills, audiences who value what they create, and pathways to earn a living from their practice.

Alodia Arts exists to help build those pathways.

We are a literary and arts magazine working to develop, publish, exhibit and connect emerging and early-career African creatives, with a special focus on South Sudan and the Greater Sudan region. Through literary publishing, visual arts, professional development and opportunities for engagement, we help creators strengthen their practice, reach new audiences and explore the possibilities of the creative economy.

Our work begins with South Sudanese creativity, but our ambition extends beyond visibility. We want to help create an environment where artists and writers can grow, cultural work can be preserved, and creative talent can contribute to both cultural life and economic opportunity.

We believe African creativity should not only be discovered. It should have room to grow, the freedom to evolve and the opportunity to thrive.

Our story

Creating the space for African stories to travel further.

Every society has stories that shape how its people understand themselves and how the world understands them. These stories live in poetry, paintings, photographs, personal essays, everyday experiences and the memories passed between generations.

South Sudan is no exception.

Its creative expression carries the weight of history, the richness of cultural identity, the realities of displacement and change, and the hopes of a generation imagining different futures. These experiences are not the whole story of South Sudan, but they are part of the many perspectives that deserve space in its cultural record.

Too often, emerging creatives lack the platforms, professional networks and resources needed to develop their work and bring it before wider audiences. Good work can remain unseen, promising talent can struggle to find direction, and creative practice can be difficult to sustain without access to professional opportunities.

Alodia Arts was established in response to this gap.

We are building a platform where African creatives can share their work, develop their skills and connect with opportunities beyond their immediate surroundings. Through our literary and visual arts platforms, we aim to make creative work more accessible to readers, audiences, collaborators and potential partners.

But publishing a poem or exhibiting a photograph is only one part of the process. We also want to contribute to the wider environment that allows creativity to develop into a lasting practice. This means encouraging learning, strengthening professional knowledge, supporting creative ownership and building connections between artistic expression and sustainable livelihoods.

We see this as long-term work. A thriving creative sector cannot be built through visibility alone. It requires people, platforms, relationships and opportunities that continue to support creatives beyond a single publication or exhibition.

Alodia Arts is building that foundation, one creator, one story and one opportunity at a time.

Our mission

To develop and connect emerging African creatives by providing platforms for publication and exhibition, opportunities for learning and professional growth, and pathways towards wider audiences and sustainable creative livelihoods.

Our vision

A thriving African creative sector where artists and writers can develop their talents, preserve and reinterpret their cultural heritage, participate in the creative economy and share their work with audiences across the continent and around the world.

Why our work matters

Talent needs opportunity.

Creative talent exists in every community, but talent develops when people have the opportunity to practise, experiment, receive feedback and learn from others. We want to help emerging creatives access the platforms and professional knowledge that can support this growth.

Culture needs room to evolve.

Culture is not something that belongs only to the past. It is carried, questioned, reinterpreted and reshaped by each generation. By supporting contemporary creative expression, we contribute to a living cultural record that reflects the experiences and perspectives of African people.

Visibility should lead somewhere.

Being seen can open doors, but visibility alone does not guarantee professional growth or financial stability. We want our platforms to help creators build connections, understand opportunities and explore ways to sustain their work over time.

African stories deserve many voices.

No single artist, institution or publication can represent an entire continent. We aim to make room for different experiences, creative approaches and perspectives, allowing African creativity to be understood through the people who produce it.

What we do

Our work connects creative expression with the practical support needed to develop and sustain it.

01. Discover and develop talent

We work to identify emerging and early-career creatives and create opportunities for them to develop their practice. Through learning, mentorship and professional development opportunities, we aim to help creators build confidence, strengthen their skills and better understand the creative industries.

02. Publish and exhibit creative work

We provide platforms where literary and visual work can be shared with audiences. Publishing and exhibition create opportunities for creators to present their ideas, build a body of work and become part of a wider conversation about African culture and contemporary life.

03. Connect creatives with opportunities

We want to help creators move beyond producing work in isolation. By building relationships with audiences, collaborators, cultural organisations and potential partners, we aim to open pathways towards commissions, professional networks and other opportunities for growth.

04. Support sustainable creative livelihoods

Creative work requires time, skill and resources. We want to help creators better understand the professional side of their practice, including creative ownership, presenting their work, engaging audiences and exploring income opportunities. Our wider ambition is to contribute to a creative economy in which talent can become a sustainable professional pursuit.

05. Contribute to the cultural record

Creative work can preserve experiences, document change and offer perspectives that might otherwise receive little attention. By publishing and exhibiting work from African creators, we aim to contribute to a growing record of how people see, experience and interpret their world.

Our creative platforms

We bring different forms of creative expression together under one shared mission: to develop African talent and create more opportunities for its work to be seen and valued.

Alodia Paper

A home for African words and ideas.

Alodia Paper is our literary platform for writers who use language to tell stories, examine ideas, explore identity and make sense of the world around them. We support literary expression across poetry, short fiction, essays, articles and other written forms. From personal reflections to social commentary and imaginative storytelling, the platform creates space for writers to share their perspectives and connect with readers. Our aim is to help build a stronger literary culture in which African writers can develop their voices, publish their work and contribute to wider conversations through the written word.

Alodia Gallery

A space for African visual expression.

Alodia Gallery presents painting, drawing, photography, illustration, digital art, mixed media and visual narratives. It gives visual artists a place to exhibit their work, reach new audiences and be part of the same cultural conversation as our writers. Alodia Arts does not currently publish video or music.

The Alodia Art Literary Prizes

Our first major initiative is an annual literary prize in three categories: the Alodia Art Prize for African Short Story, the Alodia Taban Lo Liyong Prize for Poetry — named in honour of the celebrated South Sudanese poet, writer and scholar — and the Alodia Art Kifaya Prize, reserved for Sudanese and South Sudanese poets writing from lived experience in English and Arabic. The call for entries will be announced at the formal launch.

Our geographic reach

Alodia Arts is based in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and works with country directors in Juba, Nairobi, Kigali and Kampala. Our pages are open to African writers and artists resident within Africa. This network reflects where our people work; it does not imply that Alodia Arts maintains a physical office in every city.

What we value

Creative ownership: artists should understand and retain appropriate control over their work. Fair value: visibility should lead towards real professional and economic opportunity. Cultural care: stories and images must be presented with context and respect. Accountability: we report verified activity and outcomes rather than inflated claims.