Unpublished Africa’s fourth Women’s Month exhibition unites photographers from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Egypt to spotlight empowerment and access within the African creative economy.
Ruth Takele G Eyesus (Ethiopian), Reflection of Time. 2025
Unpublished Africa presented its fourth Women’s Month exhibition on 8 March 2026 at Baraza Media Lab in Nairobi. Titled ‘I’d Be Empowered If…’, the exhibition centres on how access and empowerment impact women photographers’ professional journeys. Building on the curatorial framework introduced in 2025, it brings together women photographers from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia and Egypt. The 2026 edition also marks the first time the exhibition has been presented in person, following three previous virtual editions.
Founded in 2021, Unpublished Africa is a female-led, pan-African platform focused on expanding professional pathways within the creative economy. Its programmes operate at the intersection of artistic practice, professional development and research, with initiatives including Unpublished Photo Week, Creative Business Studio, curated exhibitions and research publications. The organisation’s work is guided by the premise that access to platforms and professional networks is critical to shaping artistic careers.
The exhibition builds directly on findings published in the organisation’s 2025 white paper, Unlocking True Empowerment for Women Photographers in Africa. The report examined structural barriers that affect the professional progression of women photographers across the continent, drawing on industry data, ecosystem analysis and lived experience within the field. One of its central conclusions was that the principal challenge facing many women photographers is not the quality of their work but the lack of consistent access to exhibitions, commissions, publishing opportunities and professional networks.
Without sustained visibility and repeated opportunities for presentation, strong photographic practices often struggle to translate into long-term professional stability. The research, therefore, emphasised the role of exhibition platforms within the broader cultural infrastructure that shapes career development. The 2026 exhibition continues this approach by providing ongoing opportunities for presentation and exchange rather than a single, isolated event.
‘I’d Be Empowered If…’ began as a curatorial prompt inviting participating photographers to complete the phrase that gives the exhibition its title. Responses highlighted issues including income stability, commissioning opportunities, intellectual property protection and institutional recognition. The works presented in the exhibition reflect these concerns through images that address the realities of building sustainable creative practices while navigating the structural limitations of local and global art economies.
Through this framework, empowerment is understood not as a fixed outcome but as a process shaped by access, repetition and the long-term support structures that enable creative work to circulate and develop over time. The exhibition also creates opportunities for professional exchange between photographers working across different regions of the continent, strengthening cross-border visibility and dialogue within the African photographic landscape.
The curatorial team for the exhibition includes Anesu Chikumba, founder of Unpublished Africa, and Namukolo Siyumbwa, Unpublished Africa’s Zambia lead. Operational support in Nairobi is provided by Jorge Dachala, the organisation’s Nairobi lead. Siyumbwa and Dachala are both alumni of Unpublished Africa’s flagship professional development programme, reflecting the organisation’s broader strategy of building distributed leadership networks across the continent.
By bringing together photographers from multiple national contexts, the exhibition situates the work of individual practitioners within broader discussions about gender equity, labour conditions and professional sustainability in the creative industries. For African women photographers, these challenges often intersect with geographic marginalisation, limited access to industry networks, economic constraints and copyright vulnerabilities. The exhibition, therefore, contributes to wider efforts to address structural inequalities within photography and the broader cultural sector.
The initiative also aligns with broader international frameworks on gender equity and economic participation, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality, decent work, and reduced inequalities. Within this context, the exhibition positions cultural platforms as an important component of the infrastructure that supports creative labour.
Baraza Media Lab is a creative space in Nairobi that supports local and regional creative communities through workshops, exhibitions, and collaborative projects.
‘I’d Be Empowered If…’ will open at Baraza Media Lab, Nairobi, on 8 March 2026 and remains on view until 22 March 2026. For more information, please visit Unpublished Africa.
