According to the current doctrine, contemporary art is essentially Western with an American over-representation undermined by the rise of China. This is a distorted image of reality because artistic scenes are emerging in most countries around the world. This is the case of Africa, an immense continent with abundant creativity. If African artists are fashionable today, their works still remain accessible.
In France, interest in contemporary African art began in 2015 thanks to the exhibition Beauty Congo at the Cartier Foundation. On the same date, the AKAA (Also Known As Africa) exhibition held its first edition. Renowned French galleries, such as Daniel Templon or Anne de Villepoix, began to present young artists, and established houses, such as Artcurial or Sotheby’s, organized specialized sales. The public was there and remains there today.
The main difficulty for the amateur is to make his choice as the modes of expression are so diverse and varied. However, as Margot Denis-Lutard from Artcurial’s contemporary African art department points out, “this art is mainly figurative. The artists move away from colonial imagery and offer a new reading of the black body while using the archetypes of the ‘Western art’. Another trend, she underlines, “they use textiles, recycled materials, embroider their canvases and mix various techniques such as collage, painting, drawing”.
An unmissable event
We find these characteristics in the Nigerian painters Olamilekan Abatan and Kelani Fatai, the Ugandan Paul Ndema, the Congolese Chéri Samba, the Ivorians Saint-Etienne Yeanzi and Aboudia, the German-South African Marion Boehm, the Beninese sculptor Romuald Hazoumè or the Mozambican Gonçalo Mabunda, photographers Omar Victor Diop from Senegal and Zanele Muholi from South Africa.
As for prices, they start at 2,500 euros and can exceed 50,000 euros for Aboudia’s large paintings. The next edition of the AKAA show, at the Carreau du Temple in Paris from October 18 to 20, promises to be an unmissable event for discovering the artistic ferment of the African continent (more information on akaafair.com). This year, for its ninth edition, it welcomes 37 French and foreign galleries which offer the works of around a hundred artists. The enthusiast will find all the styles, in a wide range of prices.