1-54 African art fair returns with craft and pop-ups

When we started, there was no established international platform for contemporary African artists”, says El Glaoui. “New artists see 1-54 as an opportunity to enter the world stage, which was not the same for the older generation at the fair . . . In 10-25 years from now, this will be an important visual point in time, when we had an invasion of black portraiture on the market.” This year marks 1-54’s first London pop-up show, Transatlantic Connections: Caribbean Narratives in Contemporary Art, presented by Christie’s, which spotlights artists from the main fair including Sonia Boyce, Helen Cammock and Zak Ové. Considering the growing appetite for contemporary African art internationally among collectors, El Glaoui hopes to bring 1-54 to Asia and to launch pop-up fairs across the African continent, in addition to its annual London, New York and Marrakech counterparts. October 12-15, 2023.