RFI is a partner of the 1-54 event, the main international art fair dedicated to contemporary African art and its diaspora, which closes this Sunday in Paris. Discovering and making people discover the riches of the African artistic scenes, such is the mission that Touria El Glaoui, founder of 1-54, has set herself. More than 50 artists, still unknown, present their works at this edition. The objective: to observe, reveal and soak up their creations.
In my family we are four sisters. I have a sister who is a poet, two who like to paint and I am in the creative organization.
Touria El Glaoui, founder of the Contemporary African Art Fair 1-54.
“ 1-54, precisely because I wanted the name to underline the diversity and the multiplicity of the talents with whom we were going to work, so it is: one continent, fifty-four countries.»
Touria El Glaouiwas born and raised in Morocco until she was 17, then left to study in New York. She worked there in the field of finance, then she practiced in London. Her activity leads her to travel through many African countries that she did not know.
1-54, one continent, fifty-four countries
She thus discovered the African artistic scenes. Touria El Glaoui is the daughter of an artist: the painter Hassan El Glaoui. She organizes international exhibitions dedicated to the works of her father. These are the two elements that inspired him with the idea of a contemporary African art fair: 1-54.
“I am, in one way or another, African. I belong to the African continent. Anyway, that’s how I feel. I had to understand the responsibility I had taken on and above all I wanted people who are taking part, especially for the first time, in an international conversation or who are listed in a Catalog for the first time, whether as important to me as it is to them. We give this image, this first image of the artist who is discovered at the Fair and we want him to be delighted with this participation, but also to honor him as he should be, with all the tools that can allow him to advance in his career.»
Discovery of African artists on three continents
Since 2013, the International Fair of Contemporary African Art 1-54has found its place on three continents with editions in London, New York, Marrakech and Paris.
“Ideally, when all is well, without the Covid, we have three annual fairs, on three continents. This exchange is very important, we have Followers almost everywhere, we also have American museums who come to see, for the first time, in Africa, what is happening. It’s Marrakech, but there is still this decision to come to the African continent, to be part of a specific moment on the African continent. Doing this event on the African continent with Marrakech, we thought about it even before New York, but we needed time, to have this experience at the two other fairs, before we could launch it on the African continent. And now Paris is also about exploring a new city.»
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