The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair was a delectable fair featuring artists from all over Africa, and its diaspora. Here I have selected several favourites to show the wide diversity of art coming out of this continent. It is not only beautiful but meaningful in its inherent dialogue. Take Chiderah Bosah, who is a largely self-taught artist. Here he renders a couple in a warm embrace with a subdued softness in expression. They are bound together like he is to his art full of delicate emotions. Àsìkò is another Nigerian artist who uses photography and collage to create a narrative of his Yoruba culture. The Yoruba people belong to the South Western part of Nigeria. Here the figure is divinely set against a backdrop of a full moon. Her beauty is on full display and her body shows the markings of a deity. Wendimagegn Belete is an Ethiopian artist who uses mixed media to create a rendering of his African heritage. Identity politics is in full bloom and his subjects are carefully shaped by a symbolic language he wishes us to engage with. Yonatan Wondwosen is anothere Ethiopian artist whose Blue Gate is a beautiful abstract work balanced carefully by the colours he chooses. Nothing can be identified and it is up to us to figure out its meaning. It is enchanting nonetheless. Tatenda Chidora is Zimbabwean photographer who chooses his painted subjects to show their connection to their environment and hence Africa. In, A lot has been happening, we see a black figure with hands and feet painted the colour red. The body is luminous and darker than the soil that the model is lying on. We don't know exactly why but she is turned away from us making her withdrawn character is an enigmatic part of the piece. The soil representative of Africa is laced with meaning and the history of the continent. It is a strong juxtaposition and we can only guess at what has transpired to create it.
1 Chiderah Bosah, I am because you are II, 2023, Nigerian
2 Godwin Champs Namuyimba, Untitled, 2023, Ugandan
3 Souad Abdelrassoul, Hezel Eyes I, 2022, Egyptian
4 Lulama Wolf, The Outpour I, 2023, South African
5 Amani Bodo, La Memoire des Siecles, 2023, Congolese
6 Àsìkò, Adorned by the Heavens, 2020, Nigerian
7 Kingsley Ayogu, Malcolm X Hope of Renewal, 2023, Nigerian
8 Wendimagegn Belete, Between Matter and Memory 11, 2023, Ethiopian
9 Alice Marcelino, Kindumba, 2015, Portuguese Angolan
11 Joanna Choumali, The world unravels before you, 2023, Ivorian
13 Mmangaliso Nzuza, Almost Still, 2023, South African
15 Yonatan Wondwosen, Blue Gate, 2023, Ethiopian
16 Hako Hankson, Toumai and Lucy, 2023, Cameroonian
17 Antoine Carbonne, Marine, 2005, French
18 Teresa Roza d'Oliveira, Untitled, 2005, Mozambican
19 Kyle Weeks, Eugenia, 2022, Namibian
20 Tiemar Tegene, Untitled III, 2023, Ethiopian
21 Tatenda Chidora, A lot has been happening, 2023, Zimbabwean
23 Nabil El Makhloufi, Chercheurs, 2023, German
24 Houda Terjuman, Diving into intricate waters, 2022, Moroccan
25 Samuel Fosso, Le Marin, 1997, Cameroonian
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