On Sat, Dec 13, 2025 from 11:00 – 13:00 the Rupert Art Foundation launches the Social Impact Arts Prize Fellowship for 2026 – "where earth meets sky" – at the Rupert Museum, and officially calls for proposals. RSVP here.
Shaping social change through art
“Social impact is inherently based on a beneficial change in relational dynamics, on the strengthening and enrichment of ties between people, and within the more-than-human world,” says SIAP director, Roelof van Wyk. “We aim to select a diverse and yet aligned set of impactful projects that bring generative insights to an expanded notion of the social.”
HOW IT BEGAN
SIAP debuted in 2020 with a call for site-specific projects in the Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet – and the results were as imaginative as they were community-rooted: an installation sharing local medicinal plant knowledge; a mass choir composition responding to the climate crisis; and an artificial raincloud sculpture that doubled as a free WiFi hub.
Since then, the initiative has broadened its reach, inviting artists, architects, designers, makers – and now, for the first time, writers – to reflect on social change through creative practice. Alternating biennially between Stellenbosch and Graaff-Reinet, the 2026 edition returns to the Karoo’s dramatic Valley of Desolation. Successful applicants will receive grant funding and a residency in Graaff-Reinet to develop deeply situated, long-term projects.
WHY GRAAFF-REINET?
“Graaff-Reinet has been selected as the site for several reasons,” explains SIAP chairperson Hanneli Rupert-Elias. “It was the birthplace of my grandfather, Anton Rupert, who, alongside my grandmother Huberte, first established the Rupert Art Foundation. He was a broad thinker who drew inspiration from the stillness and wisdom of nature. What better place to host an artistic fellowship than this ancient landscape – a place that already attracts leading palaeontologists, environmentalists, and travellers from around the globe, and which reminds us of humans’ place in the world while setting the stage for our fellows to forge new paths forward.”
This year the Fellowship deepens its roots by partnering with several Graaff-Reinet institutions, inviting applicants to work meaningfully with them: from the Graaff-Reinet Fossil Centre and Reinet House to the Old Residency, Jan Rupert Art Centre, the Hester Rupert Museum, and organisations such as SANParks.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The SIAP Fellowship 2026 launches at the Rupert Museum in Stellenbosch on Sat, Dec 13, 2025 from 11:00 – 13:00, accompanied by exhibitions from 2022 Fellows Georgia Munnik and Abri de Swardt. RSVP here.
A series of workshops follows in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Stellenbosch throughout 2026 – open to all interested creatives. Dates to be announced; keep an eye on @socialimpactartsprizeza on Instagram and rupertmuseum.org.
Award recipients will be announced at the Rupert Museum at the end of March 2026.
