Omar Victor Diop. Ikhlas Khan, Diaspora series, 2015. Pigment inkjet printing on Harman By Hahnemuhle paper. 120 x 80 cm. Courtesy of Magnin-A, Paris.
After making its New York debut in May, Europe's leading contemporary African art fair returns to London's Somerset House this week for its third and most ambitious edition. Taking place Thursday through Sunday in conjunction with Frieze Week, 1:54 will showcase art from 33 exhibitors and over 150 artists from across Africa and the diaspora.
Running alongside the fair is a full program of keynote lectures, artist talks, panel discussions, book launches and film screenings known as FORUM. Curated by Cameroonian-born exhibition maker and curator Koyo Kouoh (founding artistic director of the Dakar-based Raw Material Company) and Omar Berrada, this year's series will focus on the topic of artistic production in North Africa, interrogating the invisible border between the Maghreb, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of 1:54, expanded on this theme: “Focusing this year on North Africa and the perceived border between the so-called Maghreb and the countries south of the Sahara, FORUM will move to consider experiences of migration and movement across the conceptual border of the Sahara which remains in the consciousness of many, a artistic, cultural and social divide. FORUM will hear from an array of artists working or living within North Africa and Southern Africa, providing all-important insight into their artistic practices in relation to this imposed demarcation.”
Below, we preview a selection of artworks on display at 1:54 in London this weekend.
1:54 Contemporary African Fair takes place Thursday, October 15, through Sunday, October 18, at Somerset House in London. Tickets are available to purchase online via Eventbrite. Keep up with 1:54 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their official website.
Zahrin Kahlo. Passage, 2015. Photo Rag® Matt 308 g/m² 30 x 30 cm. Courtesy of GVCC.
Sokari Douglas Camp. Walworth Lady, 2008. Steel. 50 x 17 x 18 cm. Courtesy of October Gallery.
Otobong Nkanga. Shaping Memory, 2012-2014. Lambda print. 120 x 90 cm (136 x 105 cm framed). Edition of 5 ex + 2 AP. Courtesy of the artist & Galerie In Situ - fabienne leclerc.
Namsa Leuba. Untitled I, Cocktail Series, 2011. Fibre pigment print. 69.56 x 84.1 cm. Courtesy of Art Twenty One.
Mimi Cherono Ng'ok. Untitled, No one but you (Dakar) series, 2014. Inkjet print on cotton rag paper. 120 x 120 cm, edition of 6. Courtesy of Fondation Donwahi.
Meriem Bouderbala. Scars III, 2012. C-type print. 125 x 175 cm. Courtesy of GVCC.
Mauro Pinto. ultimo testamente, 2012. Pigment print on cotton rag paper, edition of 4. 155 x 110 cm. Courtesy of Afronova.
Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou. Untitled Triptych (Demoiselles de Porto-Novo series), 2012
C - print. 150 x 100 cm. Edition of 5 + 2 AP. Courtesy of Jack Bell Gallery.
JP Mika. Prétendant sapeur (le prestigieux enfant), 2015. Acrylic on canvas. 168 x 118 cm. Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris.
Hassan Musa. Moneytheism, 2014. Ink on textiles. 163 x 258 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Maïa Muller.
Fabrice Monteiro. Prophecy VII, 2014. Digital Print. 100 x 170 cm, edition of 5. Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery.
Ayana V. Jackson. Case # 33 VI, 2013. Archival pigment print, edition of 6 + 3 A.P
89 x 68 cm. Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery.
Fabrice Monteiro. Prophecy VII, 2014. Digital Print. 100 x 170 cm, edition of 5. Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery.
ruby oyinyechi amanze. Waiting for Nothing, 2015. Colored Pencil, Ink, Photo Trasnfers, Metallic Pigment. 76 x 111 cm. Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery.
