The art market in Nairobi: Creating a collector base
Interview with Danda Jaroljmek from Circle Art Agency, Nairobi. I was staying in a boutique hotel in Nairobi, in a secure enclave in the Westlands not too far from the Circle Art Agency. On evening I decided to investigate the nearby shops, in particular a clothing boutique that had caught my eye. I entered the […]
Emerging art scene in Nairobi, Part II
Gor Soudan and Michael Soi: Two artists politically engaged but at polar opposite in terms of process and aesthetics. Gor Soudan’s approach is essentially conceptual. He greeted me in his new small studio not too far from the Circle Art Agency. He came to art by way of his passion for philosophy. Translating an idea, […]
Kuona trust: A collective model to teaching art in Nairobi
A collective approach to teaching art in Nairobi, Kenya. After my meeting with at ARTLabAFrica with artist Beatrice Wanjiku and David Thuku, I went with David to check out Kuona Trust which I had heard so much about and where David had a studio space. Set in a green part of town the artists’ studios […]
Emerging art scene in Nairobi. Part I
Meeting up with artists Beatrice Wanjiku and David Thuku at ARTLabAFrica in Nairobi. African contemporary art is gaining serious traction in Europe – lots of galleries, exhibitions, and an art fair were scheduled to show work from African artists this fall in London, and another art fair in November in Paris. That is really exciting. […]
Interview with Kenyan artist Beatrice Wanjiku
Beatrice Wanjiku as a female artist breaks away from Kenyan traditional expectations, in her art and in her life. The Quintessence of Loneliness III, 2016 Beatrice Wanjiku was born in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi in 1978. She did her art training at the Nairobi’s Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts from which she graduated […]
Samuel Fosso’s photographs enter the MOMA’s collection
Great news! Congolese Artist Samuel Fosso’s photographic series ” African Spirits” has been added to MOMA’s permanent collection after a unanimous vote by the MOMA’s acquisition committee. This process has taken two years at least!! It is fantastic and important series. Read more about it on my blog post of April 2013
My exhibition review in publication “African Arts” on George Osodi’s photographs.
Royals and Regalia inside the Palace of Nigeria’s Monarchs. I am thrilled that my review of George Osodi’s exhibition curated by Christa Clarke – Royals and Regalia Inside the Palace of Nigeria’s Monarchs: Recent photographs by George Osodi – at the Newark Museum in 2015 has just come out in the publication African Arts, Fall […]
South African Wim Botha at The Foundation Blachere in Apt, France
Wim Botha’s fragmentary spectacle: An engrossing juxtaposition of materials. From my summer house in the Luberon in Provence, South of France it takes me barely 20 minutes to get to the Fondation Blachere in Apt, which is devoted to fostering contemporary creativity in Africa and to promoting its artists. Situated in the industrial suburb […]
African art at the Philadelphia Museum
African photography, textiles, fashion, architecture, sculpture and more in Philadelphia Between the rehearsal dinner and the wedding of the son of a dear friend of mine whom I have known since he was a baby I drove into Philly just a short hour away from West Chester where we were staying . My friend who […]
African Art Fair 1:54 is back for the second time in New York
In May The African Art Fair 1:54 was again with us New Yorkers in Red Hook, Brooklyn at Pioneer Works. The mix of artists was different than last year making the fair an opportunity for discoveries for New Yorkers and I found works that peeked my interest. It was very well attended and therefore a […]
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