1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Returns to London with Focus on Photography and Community

The 12th edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair opens at Somerset House in London from October 10 to 13, 2024. This year's event features 60 exhibitors from 23 countries presenting painting, sculpture, mixed-media, performance, and installation works. Photography receives significant attention, with contemporary artists like Prince Gyasi, Mous Lamrabat, Thandiwe Muriu, and Derrick Ofosu Boateng showing alongside pioneering 1960s work by Oumar Ka. Ghanaian visual storyteller Prince Gyasi, born in 1995, creates vibrant iPhone photographs focusing on Accra's Jamestown district youth, describing his practice as 'therapy through colors.' Zanele Muholi, a visual activist from Umlazi, Durban, presents work documenting LGBTQIA+ communities and Black South African women through portraits, photographs, and installations; their solo exhibition continues at Tate Modern until January 2025. Oumar Ka (1930-2020), who apprenticed under Senegalese photographer Cheikh Kane, captured rural Senegalese villagers within their daily contexts, with his work now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. Special projects highlight Ghanaian, Moroccan, and Brazilian talent, including British-Nigerian artist Slawn's graffitied double-decker buses and Sophia Kacimi's giant Zoubida chess board. Somerset House also hosts the public exhibition 'Making a rukus! Black Queer Histories through Love and Resistance,' exploring the rukus! Federation archive celebrating Black LGBTQIA+ cultures.