Sound / Music Residencies in South Africa

Africa Centre

Cape Town, South Africa

The Africa Centre's Artists In Residency (AIR) programme, established in , partners with artist residency programs globally to fund and support African artists across all artistic disciplines. The program covers all residency costs and round-trip airfare, allowing artists at various career stages to participate in short-term residencies that enable them to consolidate their work and develop new projects.

Bodhi Khaya Residency

Stanford, South Africa

Bodhi Khaya Artist Residency is an annual two-week, funded residency created by and for artists, founded in to provide emerging and mid-career South African artists with opportunities to explore their relationship with the environment through creative practice. Artists immerse themselves across three neighboring nature reserves surrounded by Afro-montane forests and fynbos, with the land itself serving as a collaborator in their artistic exploration.

Nirox Foundation

Krugersdorp, South Africa

The NIROX Foundation in Krugersdorp, South Africa, is a sculpture park and artist residency program located on a nature reserve in the Cradle of Humankind, offering artists studio spaces, full board and lodging, tools, curatorial guidance, and access to a 30-hectare park with over 50 installations. It hosts artists from diverse fields for residencies typically lasting 1-3 months or 6-8 weeks, encouraging engagement with local communities, institutions, and the landscape while providing opportunities for workshops, exhibitions, and collaborations. Since 2006, NIROX has hosted over 400 artists, fostering contemporary art production in a serene natural setting.

Tankwa Artscape

Calvinia, South Africa

Tankwa Artscape is a funded two-week annual artist residency for 10-12 national and international artists in the Tankwa Karoo, South Africa, focusing on site-responsive practices such as sculptural art, spoken word, sound, movement, and performance art using found materials. Founded in , it emphasizes creative confrontation with the desert's harsh environment, history, ecology, and culture, encouraging ephemeral works, collaborations, and documentation through photography, video, and audio. Accommodation in tents and meals are provided free, with limited material support, though travel and artist fees are not covered.

The Artists House is a residency on the lower slopes of the Constantiaberg mountains in Cape Town, offering a focused creative retreat with studios, grounds and shared space for exchange. Facilities include a traditional printmakers’ press, a potter’s wheel and a creative work area, with a separate exhibition venue on the same grounds. The house sits among mature trees in a largely indigenous garden — a birding hotspot — which also holds a geodesic dome and a natural swimming pool. Residents have the space to develop new work or deepen an existing practice, with mentorship, collaboration and shared learning part of the experience. Practical infrastructure includes uninterrupted power, electronic security, video access control and fibre internet.