1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair announces details of 9th London edition in October 2021
• 47 international galleries representing a selection of the leading contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora on show at Somerset House, Thursday 14 – Sunday 17 October 2021
• 1-54 Forum programme, entitled Continental Drift and curated by Dr.Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator at Sharjah Art Foundation, to be held during the fair at Somerset House and online
• Special exhibition at Christie’s Duke Street space curated by art historian and critic Christine Eyene in collaboration with 1-54 and return of 1-54 Online Powered by Christie’s
• Artsy to hold online edition from Thursday 14 – Sunday 31 October 2021
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair is delighted to return to Somerset House from Thursday 14 - Sunday 17 October 2021 for its 9th London edition. Since its inception, 1-54 has established itself as a leading voice in the global discussion on contemporary African art and has been at the forefront of the African art market with annual editions across three continents. As part of the programme of 1-54 Special Projects, the fair will once again be partnering with Christie’s to present an exhibition at the Duke Street space curated by art historian and art critic Christine Eyene and to deliver an online edition 1-54 Online Powered by Christie’s.
From Thursday 14 – Sunday 31 October 2021, works from 1-54 will then be available to purchase and view on Artsy for an extended period of time following the close of the official show.
1-54 brings together a diverse set of perspectives from around the world and has carefully selected 47 leading international galleries from 19 countries across Europe, Africa and North America: Angola, Belgium, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Among the exhibitors this year are 20 galleries from Africa, a record number of galleries from the continent: Addis Fine Art, Afriart Gallery, Berman Contemporary, Circle Art Gallery, DADA Gallery, EBONY/CURATED, Galerie Atiss Dakar, Gallery 1957, Guns & Rain, Kalashnikovv Gallery, La Galerie 38, Loft Art Gallery, LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery, Mashrabia Gallery, Retro Africa, SMO Contemporary Art, THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE, THK Gallery, UBUNTU Gallery.
Of the 47 exhibitors, 13 galleries will be welcomed to the London fair for the first time: 31 PROJECT, Bubble'n'Squeak, EBONY/CURATED, Galerie Atiss Dakar, Galerie Carole Kvasnevski, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Galerie Le Sud, HOA Galeria, La Galerie 38, LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery, Nuweland, Richard Saltoun Gallery and Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix.
The fair will showcase the work of more than 150 emerging and established artists, working in a wide variety of mediums and from a range of geographical backgrounds comprising of other countries not already mentioned.
The fair will be accompanied by 1-54 Forum, its extensive programme of artists’ talks, film screenings, panel discussions, performances and readings that will be curated by Dr.Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator at Sharjah Art Foundation, and will take place both online and at Somerset House. Entitled Continental Drift, 1-54 Forum will gather artists and audiences; mediators and narrators, to collectively delve into themes of legacy, philanthropy, and digitality. Exploring this interstitial moment in history, 1-54 Forum explores the concept of the drift as a moment for gradual reflection.
1-54 Online Powered by Christie’s will return, enhancing the programme of 1-54 by providing a virtual experience where visitors will encounter additional works displayed by participating galleries as well as highlights from the fair itself. The partnership with 1-54 demonstrates Christie’s commitment to showcasing contemporary African art to their global client base, in addition to partnering with this important fair to enhance exposure to an even greater extent internationally.
Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director, 1-54, commented: “It has been an incredibly challenging 18 months for many industries including the art world but we were pleased to have been able to put on the very first 1-54 Pop-up in Paris, and a more intimate edition of the London fair last October. It’s my absolute pleasure to announce that we are able to welcome back our usual number of galleries to Somerset House for our 9th edition in the city. It’s an especially notable year for us, with a record number of galleries exhibiting from the African continent, and a continued special collaboration with Christie’s who will host an exciting exhibition at its Duke Street space curated by Christine Eyene. We are delighted to be working with Dr.Omar Kholeif on the 1-54 Forum talks programme and can’t wait to announce further details of our special projects in the coming months.”
Isabel Millar, Associate Specialist, Christie’s, commented: “The ongoing partnership with 1-54, established in October 2020, has brought our global clients closer to this pioneering fair, both digitally and physically. The exhibition at our headquarters in London last year showcased the exceptional artists and leading galleries that participated in 1-54. This year, we are delighted to work with Christine Eyene whose vision will shape the presentation in our Duke Street galleries while those who are unable to visit in person will have the opportunity to explore every aspect of the fair via our online viewing rooms. The response from collectors to the collaboration has been resoundingly positive and we look forward to welcoming them back to 1-54 Online Powered by Christie’s and our galleries in London.”
1-54 will announce a full list of Special Projects and the 1-54 Forum programme along with booking and visitor information in August.
Press contact
Nicole Sireilles at Sutton
Full list of participating galleries
31 PROJECT (Paris, France)
50 Golborne (London, United Kingdom)
Addis Fine Art (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
AFIKARIS (Paris, France)
Afriart Gallery (Kampala, Uganda)
Berman Contemporary (Johannesburg, South Africa)
BOOGIE-WALL (London, United Kingdom)
Bubble'n'Squeak (Brussels, Belgium)
Circle Art Gallery (Nairobi, Kenya)
Claire Oliver Gallery (New York, USA)
DADA Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria)
EBONY/CURATED (Cape Town, South Africa)
Ed Cross Fine Art (London, United Kingdom)
Fridman Gallery (New York, USA)
Galerie Anne de Villepoix (Paris, France)
Galerie Atiss Dakar (Dakar, Senegal)
Galerie Carole Kvasnevski (Paris, France)
Galerie Dominique Fiat (Paris, France)
Galerie Eric Dupont (Paris, France)
Galerie Le Sud (Zurich, Switzerland)
Galerie Number 8 (Brussels, Belgium)
Gallery 1957 (Accra, Ghana/London, UK)
Guns & Rain (Johannesburg, South Africa)
HOA Galeria (São Paulo, Brazil)
Jack Bell Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Kalashnikovv Gallery (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London, United Kingdom/Berlin, Germany/Nevlunghavn, Norway)
La Galerie 38 (Casablanca, Morocco)
Loft Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco)
LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery (Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
Luce Gallery (Turin, Italy)
Mashrabia Gallery (Cairo, Egypt)
Montague Contemporary (New York, USA)
Nil Gallery (Paris, France)
Nuweland (Oosterzee, The Netherlands)
OOA Gallery (Barcelona, Spain)
October Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Retro Africa (Abuja, Nigeria)
Richard Saltoun Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Sakhile&Me (Frankfurt, Germany)
SMO Contemporary Art (Lagos, Nigeria)
THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE (Luanda, Angola /Lisbon, Portugal)
THK Gallery (Cape Town, South Africa)
UBUNTU Gallery (Cairo, Egypt)
Vigo Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Wilde Gallery (Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Switzerland)
Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix (London, United Kingdom)
Notes to Editors
About 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
With annual editions in London, New York and Marrakech, 1-54 is the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Drawing reference to the fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent, 1-54 is a sustainable and dynamic platform that is engaged in contemporary dialogue and exchange. Initiated by Touria El Glaoui in 2013, October 2021 will mark its ninth consecutive edition at Somerset House, London.
About Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Touria El Glaoui is the Founding Director of the leading international art fair, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, which takes place in London, New York and Marrakech every year. Touria El Glaoui was listed amongst the 50 most powerful women in Africa by Jeune Afrique magazine in 2015, 2018 and 2019. She is Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française since February 2020.
Born and raised in Morocco, El Glaoui completed her education in New York before beginning a career in the banking industry as a wealth management consultant. After 10 years, she relocated to London, where she initiated 1-54 in 2013. Parallel to her career, Touria has organised and co-curated exhibitions of her father’s work, Moroccan artist Hassan El Glaoui, in London and Morocco. She has spoken widely and chaired numerous discussions on contemporary African art and women in leadership at international organisations.
About Dr.Omar Kholeif, 1-54 Forum London 2021 Curator
Born in Egypt to Egyptian and Sudanese parents, Dr.Omar Kholeif is a writer, curator, cultural historian, and Director of Collections and Senior Curator at Sharjah Art Foundation. Trained as a political scientist, Kholeif’s career began as a journalist and documentary filmmaker before entering the picture palace of museums. Concerned with the means through which technologies intersect with debates around QT, postcolonial, and critical race theory. They have curated more than one hundred exhibitions of art, design, and architecture on six continents and are the author, coauthor, or editor of thirty-three books, which have been translated into twelve languages. Recent volumes include Goodbye, World! Looking at Art in the Digital Age (Sternberg, 2018); The Artists Who Will Change The World (Thames and Hudson, 2018) and Art in the Age of Anxiety (SAF/Mörel/MIT Press, 2021). They are currently at work on a monograph entitled Internet Art: The First Thirty Years (Phaidon, 2022) and an anthology of essays entitled Code-Switchers: The Art of Being Invisible (2022).
About Somerset House
London’s working arts centre
Somerset House is London’s working arts centre and home to the UK’s largest creative community. Built on historic foundations, we are situated in the very heart of the capital.
Dedicated to backing progress, championing openness, nurturing creativity and empowering ideas, our cultural programme is ambitious in scope. We insist on relevance, but aren’t afraid of irreverence, and are as keen on entertainment as enrichment. We embrace the biggest issues of our times and are committed to oxygenating new work by emerging artists. Where else can you spend an hour ice-skating while listening to a specially commissioned sound piece by a cutting edge artist?
It is this creative tension – the way we harness our heritage, put the too-often overlooked on our central stage and use our neo-classical backdrop to showcase ground-breaking contemporary culture – that inspires our programme. Old and new, history and disruption, art and entertainment, high-tech and homemade, combined with the fact that we are home to a constantly shape-shifting working creative community: this is our point of difference. It is what we are proud of. And it is what makes the experience of visiting or working in Somerset House inspiring and energising, urgent and exciting. www.somersethouse.org.uk
About Christie’s
Christie’s, the world's leading art business, had auction sales in 2019 that totalled £4.5 billion / $5.8 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and international expertise. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie's also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters and Jewellery. Alongside regular sales online, Christie’s has a global presence in 46 countries, with 10 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
*Please note when quoting estimates above that other fees will apply in addition to the hammer price - see Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of the sale catalogue.
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are reported net of applicable fees.
About Artsy
Artsy is the largest global online marketplace for discovering, buying, and selling fine art by leading artists. Artsy connects 4,000+ galleries, auction houses, art fairs, and institutions from 100+ countries with more than 2 million global art collectors and art lovers from 190+ countries. Artsy makes purchasing art welcoming, transparent, and low-friction with industry-leading technology that connects supply and demand safely and securely at a global scale. Launched in 2012, Artsy is headquartered in New York City with offices in London, Berlin, and Hong Kong.
Physical fair opening times
VIP & Press previews
10:00-20:00 Thursday 14 and Friday 15 October
1-54 Public opening hours
10:00-20:00 Saturday 16 October
10:00-18:00 Sunday 17 October
1-54 Online powered by Christie’s opening times
VIP & Press previews
Wednesday 13 October
1-54 Public days
Thursday 14 – Sunday 17 October
1-54 exhibition at Christie’s London Duke Street Gallery
Tuesday 12- Monday - 18 October
Monday to Friday 10am – 6pm
Weekend 12pm – 5pm
Social media
Website: 1-54.com/london
Twitter: @154artfair
Instagram: @154artfair
Facebook: 154ContemporaryAfricanArtFair
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