Paul Emmanuel was the inaugural recipient of the Ampersand Fellowship in 1997. His practice centres on intimate, often tender explorations of masculine identity, vulnerability, the body, and the politics of belonging. Working primarily through photography, video and installation, Emmanuel creates work that questions how identity is formed, performed, and contested — in South Africa and beyond. His New York residency marked the beginning of a fellowship programme that would go on to support more than 300 South African artists.
The Ampersand Fellowship
Since 1997, the Ampersand Foundation has sent more than 300 South African visual artists to a funded residency in Tribeca, New York — connecting them with one of the world's most dynamic art ecosystems.