Since its inception, 1-54 has become a leading voice in the global conversation on contemporary African art and has been at the forefront of the African art market with annual editions across three continents.
This year’s London edition will feature over 60 international exhibitors representing 23 countries, including 21 new galleries making their debut at 1-54 London. Newcomers include ADA Gallery (Accra, Ghana), Amasaka Gallery (Masaka, Uganda), Art Pantheon Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria), Cynthia Corbett Gallery (London), Galerie REVEL (Bordeaux, France), and House of Beau (Rabat, Morocco), among others.
Highlights:
Sharjah Biennale 15
Curators Natasha Ginwala, Amal Khalaf, and Zeynep Öz focus on oceanic geographies connecting the Gulf to the coasts of Africa and South Asia, as well as sound migrations, diasporic memory preservation, and water-bound infrastructures. One featured artist, Cassi Namoda, addresses themes of Luso-African narratives and postcolonial matrilineal histories.
Noteworthy Artists:
- Fathi Hassan (born in Cairo, 1957): Hassan explores migration, loss of identity, and cultural memory, particularly focusing on ancient languages erased by colonization.
- Abderrahim Trifis (born in 1974 in Sidi Mokhtar, Morocco): A self-taught artist, Trifis draws on his nomadic heritage to create dreamlike works, blending abstraction with figurative elements.
- Khaled Hafez (born in 1963 in Cairo, Egypt): A former doctor turned artist, Hafez’s work centers on sociopolitical themes in Egypt, expressed through painting, video, and sculpture.
- Nabil El Makhloufi (born in 1973 in Fes, Morocco): Living in Leipzig, Germany, El Makhloufi’s art explores themes of migration, cultural identity, and human aspirations through vivid compositions.
- Alia Ali (Yemeni-Bosnian-American artist): Based in Marrakech, New Orleans, and Jaipur, Ali’s work questions linguistic dualities, identity, futurism, and citizenship.
- Houda Terjuman (Morocco): Terjuman’s work explores themes of identity, displacement, and the search for stability, drawing on her multicultural background to create art that expresses the balance between home and exile.
- Khaled Zaki (Egyptian sculptor): Zaki’s work blends influences from Egyptian antiquity, the Renaissance, and modernism, producing powerful bronze sculptures.