Call for Participation
11th Edition of the Invisible Borders
Trans-African Road Trip
Open call deadline: 31 May 2026
11th Edition of the Invisible Borders
Trans-African Road Trip
Open call deadline: 31 May 2026
For over fifteen years, the Invisible Borders Trans-African Project has brought together artists, writers, filmmakers, and researchers in collaborative journeys across the African continent.
As we prepare the 11th edition of the project — the 2026 Trans-African Road Trip from Marrakesh to Lagos — we invite artists, practitioners, and researchers to explore the open call materials below and consider applying to join this edition.
As we prepare the 11th edition of the project — the 2026 Trans-African Road Trip from Marrakesh to Lagos — we invite artists, practitioners, and researchers to explore the open call materials below and consider applying to join this edition.
Re-tracing the path of Stars, the 11th edition of the Invisible Borders Trans-African Road Trip, unfolds from Marrakesh to Lagos between 10 October and 26 November 2026.
The road trip approaches Africa as a living story of journeys, engaging photography, writing, film, and related practices as ways of encountering the road, the world, and the many lives, histories, and knowledges that unfold along it.
On this page, you will find the project proposal, application guidelines, and links to apply in English.
For French speakers, click the language button at the menu to access the French page.
Please read the documents carefully before submitting your application.
The road trip approaches Africa as a living story of journeys, engaging photography, writing, film, and related practices as ways of encountering the road, the world, and the many lives, histories, and knowledges that unfold along it.
On this page, you will find the project proposal, application guidelines, and links to apply in English.
For French speakers, click the language button at the menu to access the French page.
Please read the documents carefully before submitting your application.
Long before streaks of lines dividing lands into countries, long before borders, long before nation-states and nationalities, there have been stars. They’ve lit and guided the paths of sojourners that have walked the Earth.
The premise of the Invisible Borders Trans-African project is: Africa has, and continues to be, a story of journeys.
For the 11th edition of the Trans-African Road Trip, twelve artists — photographers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers — will travel by road from Marrakech, Morocco, to Lagos, Nigeria, traversing from north to west of the continent within a period of 48 days.
Re-tracing the path of Stars underscores the premise of the journey as remembering-with-the-body not as a nostalgia, but as re-entering a living archive of the road. It re-traces paths treaded by many whose footprints are buried under patches of imposed cartography and borders.
This artistic road trip enlists artists and researchers from Africa and the diaspora to embark on an exploration which takes the form of an expedition, using the story-shaping medium of photography, writing, film as a method of enquiry into the interstices of self and the world.
The earth is a living body. We are traversing its womb and experiencing its lustre. The artists’ work will mirror its topographical beauty, its theatrical mirth as much as its contorted corners.
The journey is also shaped by interactions with people met along the way — creating and sharing the work through makeshift exhibitions, screenings, spontaneous collaborative creating.
The works they create are an articulation of the “invisible border” that in turn emanates from taking the myriad encounters, experiences, and interpersonal interactions on the road as a mirror that reflects Self and World to each other.
For over 15 years, the Invisible Borders Trans-African Project has been dedicated to the possibility of “humanizing borders” and demystifying them through creative and artistic projections.
As we get on the road for the 11th edition, we share snippets of our experiences through daily blogging as has always been our mode of interacting with remote audiences from the road.
Works from the road trip is shaped into exhibitions, publications and public presentations. This edition of the road trip is an invitation in the framework of the Lagos Biennale 2026, and will be presented alongside other exhibitions in the Biennale as a multimedia installation.
In times when the cartography of the world is heavily contested through old images and languages of violence and imposition, “re-tracing the path of stars” is a deliberate artistic enactment towards transcending the illusion of borders as that which separates, or as institutions of hierarchy, while keeping mind, heart, and spirit open to the road and the possible historicization of borders as potent sites of encounter.
Emeka Okereke
Founder and Artistic Director
Invisible Borders Trans-African Project
The premise of the Invisible Borders Trans-African project is: Africa has, and continues to be, a story of journeys.
For the 11th edition of the Trans-African Road Trip, twelve artists — photographers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers — will travel by road from Marrakech, Morocco, to Lagos, Nigeria, traversing from north to west of the continent within a period of 48 days.
Re-tracing the path of Stars underscores the premise of the journey as remembering-with-the-body not as a nostalgia, but as re-entering a living archive of the road. It re-traces paths treaded by many whose footprints are buried under patches of imposed cartography and borders.
This artistic road trip enlists artists and researchers from Africa and the diaspora to embark on an exploration which takes the form of an expedition, using the story-shaping medium of photography, writing, film as a method of enquiry into the interstices of self and the world.
The earth is a living body. We are traversing its womb and experiencing its lustre. The artists’ work will mirror its topographical beauty, its theatrical mirth as much as its contorted corners.
The journey is also shaped by interactions with people met along the way — creating and sharing the work through makeshift exhibitions, screenings, spontaneous collaborative creating.
The works they create are an articulation of the “invisible border” that in turn emanates from taking the myriad encounters, experiences, and interpersonal interactions on the road as a mirror that reflects Self and World to each other.
For over 15 years, the Invisible Borders Trans-African Project has been dedicated to the possibility of “humanizing borders” and demystifying them through creative and artistic projections.
As we get on the road for the 11th edition, we share snippets of our experiences through daily blogging as has always been our mode of interacting with remote audiences from the road.
Works from the road trip is shaped into exhibitions, publications and public presentations. This edition of the road trip is an invitation in the framework of the Lagos Biennale 2026, and will be presented alongside other exhibitions in the Biennale as a multimedia installation.
In times when the cartography of the world is heavily contested through old images and languages of violence and imposition, “re-tracing the path of stars” is a deliberate artistic enactment towards transcending the illusion of borders as that which separates, or as institutions of hierarchy, while keeping mind, heart, and spirit open to the road and the possible historicization of borders as potent sites of encounter.
Emeka Okereke
Founder and Artistic Director
Invisible Borders Trans-African Project
The artists will travel from Marrakesh in Morocco to Lagos in Nigeria, following the Atlantic corridor through Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal before turning inland through Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana, and then continuing along the Gulf of Guinea through Togo and Benin into Nigeria.
The journey covers approximately 6,800 kilometres over 48 days. As with previous Invisible Borders editions, the artists will travel together, living, working, and interacting throughout the journey, with the road functioning as a shared space of research, production, and relation.
The journey covers approximately 6,800 kilometres over 48 days. As with previous Invisible Borders editions, the artists will travel together, living, working, and interacting throughout the journey, with the road functioning as a shared space of research, production, and relation.
These documents form part of the Invisible Borders Trans-African Project, a long-term artistic and research initiative developed over 15+ years by the Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers Organisation. The concepts, structures, and materials contained herein are the intellectual property of the Project and its author. They are shared for the purpose of dialogue and collaboration and may not be reproduced or used without prior written consent. By accessing these documents, you acknowledge and agree to respect these terms.
Frequently asked questions
This open call welcomes artists, practitioners, and researchers working across photography, writing, film, research, public space art, graffiti, and related transdisciplinary practices.
For the first time, this edition opens participation to people from different parts of the world, regardless of nationality.
All genders are welcome to apply. Invisible Borders values gender balance and seeks to reflect it across its projects.
For the first time, this edition opens participation to people from different parts of the world, regardless of nationality.
All genders are welcome to apply. Invisible Borders values gender balance and seeks to reflect it across its projects.
The deadline for this open call is 31 May 2026. Please make sure that all required documents are submitted before the deadline.
Core participation is for artists from Africa and the African diaspora undertaking the full journey from Marrakesh to Lagos. Module participation is for artists joining one of the three route segments: Morocco → Senegal, Senegal → Ghana, or Ghana → Nigeria.
Applicants should apply only for a route they are realistically able to undertake. Selected participants must be able to secure the visas required for their chosen route before the beginning of their participation.
Invisible Borders strives to cover the expenses of participating artists. At the same time, applicants are encouraged to seek or secure funding where possible. Participants in the module sections of the trip will be expected to cover their flight and accommodation costs related to their participation, while Invisible Borders will provide daily per diems during the road trip segment.
This is not a conventional residency, nor is it tourism. Participants should be prepared to travel, live, and work collectively under changing road conditions, and to engage the journey as both a lived experience and an artistic method.
Applicants are required to submit a motivation letter, a résumé / CV, a clear scan of the data page of their international passport, and portfolio materials relevant to their practice. Depending on the nature of the work, this may include photo portfolios, writing samples, writing / research samples, film / video links, or public space / graffiti portfolios.
Invisible Borders works primarily in English and French for communication and coordination. However, language is not used as a criterion for selection.
Contact us
If you need to get in touch with us, send an email to info@invisible-borders.com. Follow the project on social media for more news and updates.
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