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Gallery list announced for seventh London edition of the fair

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has announced the 44 galleries from 19 countries exhibiting at its seventh London edition, taking place at Somerset House, 3-6 October 2019 (preview on Wednesday 2 October). As part of the programme of 1-54 Special Projects, the fair is partnering with Somerset House to present an exhibition of new and celebrated works from one of South Africa’s most prominent contemporary artists, Mary Sibande, which will run through to 7 January 2020. Kerryn Greenberg, Head of International Collection Exhibitions at Tate, has been invited to guest curate the 1-54 FORUM talks programme for the first time and will focus on the legacy of Nigerian curator Bisi Silva.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Bisa Butler, I Am Not Your Negro, 2019. Courtesy Claire Oliver Gallery; Caitlin Cherry, Quantum Rose, 2019. Courtesy Luce Gallery and the artist; Mary Sibande, I Put A Spell On Me, 2009. Copyright of the artist.

Founding Director of 1-54, Touria El Glaoui, commented: “Last Year, 1-54 welcomed over 18,000 people to Somerset House and has helped to build a growing global interest in contemporary African art. We are especially proud of expanding our programme across three continents in London, New York and more recently in Marrakech. We are delighted with the exciting line-up of galleries for our seventh edition in London and are honoured to be dedicating the 1-54 FORUM programme to the inspirational Bisi Silva and showcasing the amazing work of Mary Sibande as part of our Special Projects. It’s set to be our best fair yet and we look forward to welcoming new faces and old friends to Somerset House in October.”

Over the past seven years, 1-54 has established itself as a leading voice in the global discussion on contemporary African art. 1-54 brings together a diverse set of perspectives from around the world, and has carefully selected 44 leading international galleries from 19 countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North America: Austria, Belgium, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany,

Ghana, Italy, Kenya, Martinique, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Among the exhibitors this year are 16 galleries from Africa: Addis Fine Art, AFRONOVA GALLERY, AGorgi, Circle Art Gallery, Galerie Cécile Fakhoury, Gallery 1957, Guns & Rain, Kalashnikovv Gallery, L’Atelier 21, Loft Art Gallery, Mashrabia Gallery, Selma Feriani Gallery, SMITH, SMO Contemporary Art, Ubuntu Art Gallery, WHATIFTHEWORLD.

Of the 44 exhibitors, 15 galleries will be welcomed to the London fair for the first time including, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Claire Oliver Gallery, espace d’art contemporain 14°N 61°W, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Galleria Anna Marra, Guns & Rain, The Hole, Kalashnikovv Gallery, Luce Gallery, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Nil Gallery, Sakhile & Me, SMITH, Tabari Art Space and Ubuntu Art Gallery.

The fair will showcase the work of more than 140 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.

Nine solo exhibitions have been announced: Louisa Marajo (espace d’art contemporain 14°N 61°W), Alexandria Smith (Galleria Anna Marra), Godfried Donkor (Gallery 1957), Prinston Nnanna (The Hole), Anton Kannemeyer (HUBERTY & BREYNE GALLERY), Chourouk Hriech (L’Atelier 21), Michaela Younge (SMITH), Ibrahim El Salahi (Vigo Gallery), Mohau Modisakeng (WHATIFTHEWORLD).

Building on the success of the expanded programme of non-profit Special Projects at the 2018 edition of the London fair, 1-54 will present a number of collateral exhibitions in Somerset House, including Mary Sibande’s first solo exhibition in the UK, I Came Apart at the Seams, where she will present a series of photographic and sculptural works exploring the power of imagination and constructive anger in shaping identities and personal narratives in a post-colonial world. The exhibition follows the transformative journey of Sibande’s avatar, Sophie. Taking form as a series of colourful human-scale sculptures modelled on Sibande herself, Sophie transgresses from her humble beginnings as a domestic housemaid into myriad empowered characters, transcending racial bias and marginalisation.

For the seventh year in a row, 1-54 London will be accompanied by 1-54 FORUM, the fair’s extensive talks and events programme, including artists talks, film screenings and panel discussions with international curators, artists and cultural producers. 1-54 FORUM will be curated for the first time, by curator Kerryn Greenberg, Head of International Collection Exhibitions at Tate. 1-54 FORUM at 1-54 London 2019 is dedicated to the formidable Nigerian curator Bisi Silva (1962-2019), founder of the Centre of Contemporary Art (CCA) Lagos who championed women artists and experimental artistic practices, prioritised research, publishing and pedagogy, and nurtured the next generation of artists, curators, writers and art historians in Africa. Over the course of four afternoons, 1-54 FORUM will bring together many of the people who benefitted from Silva’s wise counsel and unwavering support, to continue the conversations she was at the centre of before her untimely death in February 2019.

Full list of participating galleries

50 Golborne (London, United Kingdom)
Addis Fine Art (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
AFRONOVA GALLERY (Johannesburg, South Africa) AGorgi (Tunis, Tunisia)
Catinca Tabacaru Gallery (New York, USA)
Circle Art Gallery (Nairobi,Kenya)
Claire Oliver Gallery (New York, USA)
Ed Cross Fine Art (London, United Kingdom)

espace d’art contemporain 14°N 61°W (Fort de France, Martinique) Galerie Anne de Villepoix (Paris, France)
Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire/ Dakar, Senegal) Galerie Ernst Hilger (Vienna, Austria)

Galleria Anna Marra (Rome, Italy) Gallery 1957 (Accra, Ghana)
Gallery Nosco (Marseille, France)
Guns & Rain (Cape Town, South Africa) The Hole (New York, USA)

HUBERTY & BREYNE GALLERY (Paris, France/ Brussels, Belgium) Jack Bell Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
James Cohan (New York, USA)
Kalashnikovv Gallery (Johannesburg, South Africa)

Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London, United Kingdom) L’Atelier 21 (Casablanca, Morocco)
Lawrie Shabibi Gallery (Dubai, UAE)
Loft Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco)

Luce Gallery (Turin, Italy)
MAGNIN-A (Paris, France) Mashrabia Gallery (Cairo, Egypt) Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami, USA) Nil Gallery (Paris, France)

October Gallery (London, United Kingdom) Primo Marella Gallery (Milan, Italy)
Sakhile & Me (Frankfurt, Germany)
Selma Feriani Gallery (Tunis, Tunisia) SMITH (Cape Town, South Africa)

SMO Contemporary Art (Lagos, Nigeria) Sulger-Buel Gallery (London, United Kingdom) Tabari Art Space (Dubai, UAE)
TAFETA (London, United Kingdom)

Tiwani Contemporary (London, United Kingdom) Ubuntu Art Gallery (Cairo, Egypt)
Vigo Gallery (London, United Kingdom) WHATIFTHEWORLD (Cape Town, South Africa) Yossi Milo Gallery (New York, USA)

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