Accra designer and artist Neal Davids is one of 100 creatives around the world picked for the Prince Claus Fund's 2026 SEED Award.
If you've come across his label, CHIIP O NEAL, you know the work: old, thrown-away clothes reworked with African symbols into pieces that sit somewhere between fashion and art.
He shared the news on Instagram this week. "Still surreal. Always humbling. Always a reminder to keep going," he wrote.
What the award is
The Prince Claus Fund, based in Amsterdam, gives the SEED Award each year to 100 emerging artists whose work deals with the social and political issues around them.
Each winner gets €5,000 to spend however they choose on their practice, plus a way into the Fund's global network of artists.
The Fund's profile of Neal says his work has been shown in Ghana, South Africa, Sweden, France and the Netherlands.
What he makes
For Neal, cloth is more than something to sew. Through his label, he wrote, he treats textiles "as vessels of memory, cultural knowledge and human experience".
The Fund describes his pieces as exhibitions, installations and wearable sculptures built from discarded garments, carrying stories of identity, memory and survival.
He says the award gives him room to "deepen my research" and "challenge my creative boundaries".
"Work nurtured locally can find resonance globally," he added.
He's not the only Ghanaian on the list
Two other Ghanaians made this year's 100: Baaba J and Menenaba.
It has been a good season for Ghanaian artists abroad. Last week, Ibrahim Mahama won Germany's €10,000 Bode Prize.
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