What is a Residency?
Zanzalu residencies are small-cohort, two-week tracks that run inside the wider pop-up city. Each one gathers people around a shared theme, then gives them a structure to do things together, whether that be competing in a hackathon or focused learning of a shared interest. They can be as simple as a daily lunch circle or come with a full calendar and real deliverables. Some residencies offer support like travel or accommodation scholarships.
Got an idea for a residency? Members and partners are encouraged to launch their own. Email info@zanzalu.org and tell us what you want to run.
Active Residencies
Vanguard Residency
The Vanguard Residency is a two-week, in-person program for early-career professionals serious about Africa’s long-term future. It brings together a small, high-caliber cohort to think rigorously, challenge assumptions, and build lasting relationships in an environment designed for ambition and follow-through.
Few things matter more for Africa’s future than what its most talented people choose to work on together. Great work rarely starts in classrooms or conferences. It begins in late-night conversations and recurring gatherings of people who take ideas and each other seriously. The Vanguard Residency creates this kind of high-trust, high-standards peer group — one where big ideas are sharpened through challenge, collaboration, and honest feedback.
Who Should Apply?
The Vanguard Residency is designed for early-career professionals from any background. What matters most is seriousness of purpose, demonstrated follow-through, and a desire to contribute to a lasting peer network.
You should apply if you:
- Are committed to work that delivers meaningful change
- Enjoy hard problems and complex ideas, and want to direct them toward real outcomes
- Hold yourself and others to high standards, and want your ambitions tested by peers just as serious as you are
Swahili Futurism Residency
The Swahili Futurism Residency is a two-week artists’ track within Zanzalu for imagining future aesthetics rooted in the Swahili coast. It brings together a small cohort of East African artists to explore how culture, history, and imagination can shape what comes next.
Residents balance individual studio work with shared sessions alongside other artists. The residency is designed to support experimentation, exchange, and creative development in a focused but collaborative environment.
Who Should Apply?
This residency is for artists and creatives who are curious, experimental, and interested in imagining future narratives shaped by Swahili culture and history. It is especially suited to those who want to engage with Zanzibar not just as a location, but as a living source of inspiration.
We welcome applications from:
- Visual artists and designers
- Digital and new media artists
- Architects
- Sound artists and musicians
- Filmmakers and photographers
- Writers, researchers, and storytellers
Artists from Zanzibar and across East Africa are especially encouraged to apply.
