Established MMX · Accra, Ghana
Nipa Dua
Foundation
Archive. Preserve. Contemporize.
Declaration
We declare that art is not decoration. Art is not commodity. Art is not entertainment.
Art is RELATIONSHIP. Art is RITUAL. Art is REMEMBRANCE.
We declare that the word NIPADUA — human-tree, body-as-arboreal — is not a metaphor but a REVELATION.
We reject the separation of human from nature. We embrace the truth of Nipadua.
Established MMX · Accra
The Nipadua Foundation
The Foundation funds artists who work at the meeting point of environmental repair and cultural memory — those who, like the house itself, make new life from what has been discarded.
Grants prioritise practice rooted in reclaimed material, indigenous knowledge systems, and Pan-African storytelling. Recycling as testimony; the human body as a tree.
Current Grant Cycle
The Reclaimed-Material Grant
An annual award to a Ghanaian or diaspora artist working in repurposed material. Includes funding, studio support and a place in the gallery's next cycle.
- Award
- $5,000 + studio support
- Window
- Opens 01 Sept 2025
- Closes 15 Nov 2025
Our Work
What the Foundation runs day to day — education, craft and environmental programs transforming lives across Ghana.
SEND & Inclusion Practice
Education · Disability Inclusion
Claire's sensory, movement and creative-play workshops bring inclusion practice to children, young people and the professionals who teach them — across Ghana and the USA.
The Adanwomase Weavers Collective
Textile · Craft
Ongoing support for Kente weavers integrating reclaimed fabric into traditional cloth at a fair, decentralised pace.
Kokrobite Coast Project
Environment · Community
Beach-plastic collection and material-transformation workshops with young makers along the Kokrobite shoreline.
In the Field — Claire's Practice
Her full story →
Knowledge & Research
The Digital Archive
A living grove of oral histories, ritual documentation and sustainability practices — tended, not owned.
ExploreResearch Partnerships
Collaboration under the five obligations, for institutions who will listen, learn and return.
ExplorePublications
The Nipadua Manifesto, an ongoing article series, and printed collections.
ExploreImpact
$18k
Distributed to artists
12
Makers supported
3
Coastal communities
1.2t
Material diverted from landfill
Programs
Community Engagement
The Foundation's work has always run alongside programs that promote creative expression, environmental awareness and social responsibility — empowering communities to become active agents of change, not spectators of it.
- Community Projects
- Youth Empowerment
- Women Empowerment
- Village Development
Sustainability
Every material we work with is treated as alive, not inert — bark, water, pigment and metal are sourced with permission, used sparingly and planned for their return to earth. Sustainability here is a practice, not a policy line.
- Tree Planting
- Environment Protection
- Waste Recycling
- Community Farming
- Local Businesses
Support Programs
Scholarships
Tuition and materials support for emerging artists and students.
Artist Grants
The Reclaimed-Material Grant and future cycles — see above.
Emergency Support
Short-notice assistance for artists and communities in crisis.
Training
Skills-building alongside the NFC process — research, craft, exhibition practice.
Micro-enterprises
Seed support for small, community-rooted creative businesses.
Volunteer
Workshops, tours and community projects run on volunteer hands as much as funding. If you have time rather than money to give, this is where to start.
Donate
One-time or monthly, sponsor an artist or sponsor a child — every gift is distributed through the programs above, tracked in the impact numbers below.
Give to the FoundationHow to apply
Applications for the next cycle open each September. Artists working in reclaimed material are encouraged to apply.
Start an application