The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) announces Ghanaian artist Rita Mawuena Benissan as Grand Prize Winner of the 5th edition of The 2026 Sovereign African Art Prize presented by Standard Bank, receiving a cash prize of US$25,000 for her work We Follow the Lead of Our Own, a richly layered embroidered tapestry depicting a historic chieftaincy procession in Accra.
Upon the news of her triumph, Rita Mawuena Benissan said: “I am deeply honoured to receive this year’s Grand Prize. My work has always been about preserving and reimagining the histories we inherit and how we continue to carry them into the present. What makes this recognition even more meaningful is knowing that the Prize also supporting meaningful charitable work with children and arts. I believe that preserving our cultural histories also means investing in those who will continue to tell our stories!”
Winning artist Benissan was nominated into the Prize by Sandrine Colard, associate professor of Arican Art History at Rutgers University. Through her practice, she reclaims and reimagines the iconography of chieftaincy, sovereignty, and collective memory, resurrecting archival photographs through sculpture, installation, photography, film, and embroidered tapestries. Central to her work is the royal umbrella, an architecture of protection and power, reinterpreted to restore dignity and visibility to the histories it once sheltered. Her winning piece, We Follow the Lead of Our Own, reinterprets a 1950s photograph of a chieftaincy procession through layered stitching, shifting the archive from record to monument and restoring agency and sovereignty to the gathering beneath the canopy.
Benissan’s work was selected through a rigorous adjudication process by the panel of five global judges, who met in South Africa to assess all 29 finalists in person. The panel was made up of Azu Henry Nwagbogu, independent curator; Janine Gaëlle Dieudji, multilocal curator and cultural facilitator; Same Mdluli, artist, art historian, curator and writer; Riason Naidoo, curator, writer, researcher and artist; and Richard Mudariki, founder of artHARARE.
Judge Azu Nwagbogu said: “Rita Mawuena Benissan’s painterly work – Although made through textile and embroidery rather than conventional oil or acrylic paint, has a distinctly painterly presence: layered colour, soft tonal transitions, and carefully composed figures create the atmosphere of a historical scene reimagines a ceremonial gathering rooted in Ghanaian tradition. This work depicts traditional architecture evoking a communal scene of ancestry, authority, and cultural continuity. The judges were impressed with her distinctive visual language and inventiveness of form.”
Mellaney Roberts of South Africa is awarded the FAMM Women’s Prize of US$5,000 as the highest-scoring female artist (excluding the Grand Prize Winner), for her work What the Land Remembers, which explores the intersections of identity, memory, land and lineage.
FAMM Women’s Prize winner, Roberts said of her success: “Sometimes, one person’s journey carries the stories of an entire community. I am deeply honoured to receive the FAMM Women’s Prize. As the only artist in my family and, to my knowledge, in my community, this recognition means more than words can express. I hope it inspires young women from the Baviaanskloof to believe in their potential, pursue their dreams and know that there is a place for them in whatever fields they choose. This award carries more than my name. It carries the stories, memories and spirit of the Baviaanskloof community, much like my awarded artwork, What the Land Remembers. A heartfelt thank you to the selection panel for recognising my work and helping bring the families and stories of Baviaanskloof into spaces where they can be seen, heard and acknowledged. To my family, friends and everyone who has supported and believed in me, thank you. I share this moment with you. “
Leisa Paoli of FAMM said of this winner: “Christian Levett & the FAMM museum are thrilled to celebrate Mellaney Roberts as the winner of the Sovereign Art Foundation’s 2026 FAMM Women’s Prize. Mellany’s deeply evocative installation, What the Land Remembers, speaks to the universal themes of identity, belonging & memory. Supporting talented women artists & amplifying their voices lies at the very heart of FAMM’s mission & we are delighted to see Mellaney’s artistic vision recognised through this prize.”
An exhibition of the entire shortlist will be on display at Magugu House at the Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel, in Cape Town, where it will be open to the public from 21 November 2026 – 12 February 2027. One final prize is still available – the Public Vote Prize will tally up votes submitted by both the visiting public and online, voting closes in late January.
All 29 works, including the two winners, are available to purchase either through direct sale, or via charity auction hosted by Bonhams (February 2027). Proceeds of all sales are split equally between each artist and SAF, which will donate them to charity partners Jelly Beanz, Ikamva Labantu and Inceba Trust, to be used to run art programmes for disadvantaged children.
Registrations and purchases are facilitated via the Sovereign Art Foundation webpage.
