SAVVY Contemporary has awarded Tanka Fonta with the 2026 Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize. He will receive a €30,000 grant, additional funds for the creation of a new artwork and curatorial support.
Born in Buea, Cameroon, Fonta is a visual artist, composer, poet, writer, instrumentalist and philosopher whose work explores the psychology of perception. His work has been exhibited worldwide including at the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo; HKW, Berlin; SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin; Kustverein Hannover; Goodman Gallery, Cape Town; the Goethe Institute and National Museum, Yaoundé.
Fonta was selected from a shortlist also including Jessica Ekomane, Nnenna Onuoha, Lerato Shadi and Sarnt Utamachote. The jury, composed of Alya Sebti, curator at HKW Berlin; Antje Majewski, artist and professor; Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, curator, writer and director of HKW Berlin; Mirjami Schuppert, curator and prize coordinator for AKB Stiftung; and Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock, executive managing co-director at SAVVY Contemporary, said in a statement:
‘Creating space for genuine interconnection, and togetherness, Tanka Fonta’s pieces unfold as a field of vibrations, where image, sound, and poetic gestures in resonance with one another, carry living and ancestral memory. Attuned to subtle frequencies, his work collates traces, presences, and temporalities into compositions that remain open and in flux.’
Established in 2021 by AKB Stiftung and SAVVY Contemporary, the Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize is a biennial grant awarded to artists of colour based in Germany.
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