Introducing the Art Basel Awards 2026 African Medalists

Art Basel has recognised 33 artists, curators, patrons, media figures, and cultural platforms to mark their second year of honoring both artistic excellence and the individuals and institutions shaping and sustaining it.

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On View: Art Shows to look out for in Q2

There are major art fairs, museum exhibitions, and gallery shows on view this summer. Here are 3 art shows to look out for:

Yinka Ilori - Joy Through Resistance: He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best

This summer, Yinka Ilori will present a new exhibition at Cristea Roberts Gallery. His exhibition, Joy Through Resistance, brings together new and recent works across painting, print, sculpture, immersive film, and sound, offering insights into themes that shape Ilori’s colorful visual language.

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Collectors of African Art You Should Know

Art collectors play a vital role in the local and global appreciation of African art. There are art collectors with massive collections that have made an impact on the African art market. Over the years, these four art collectors have established themselves as leading acquisitors of African art:

Jean Pigozzi

Jean Pigozzi started collecting contemporary African art in 1989. Since then, his private collection has become one of the largest in the world and is known as the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC – the Pigozzi Collection). Up to 2008, the collection was curated by independent curator and art dealer André Magnin. It is an ever increasing collection. There are thousands of artworks featuring paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, installations, and videos from contemporary artists living in sub-Saharan African countries. Artworks from Pigozzi’s private collection has been exhibited across the world. In 2019, Pigozzi donated 45 contemporary African artworks to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Works from Pigozzi’s collections have been exhibited at institutions including The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2005); National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C. (2005–06); The Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain (2006–07); Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow (2011); CNAC–Le Magasin, Grenoble, France (2011); and Foundation Cartier, Paris (2015–16), among others.

Emile Stipp

Emile Stipp is one of the prominent art collectors in South Africa’s art scene. He is on the African Acquisitions Committee of Tate. His collection, which focuses on contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, includes major artists who work in painting, sculpture, and photography, like Zanele Muholi, David Goldblatt, Nicholas Hlobo, and Edson Chagas. He is also interested in video art and has collected works from Dineo Seshee Bopape, Kudzanai Chiurai, Emeka Ogboh, and Donna Kukama. Stipp has collected African art for more than 20 years. He has also donated works to the Tate Modern and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Artists at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026

With a record of over 91,000 visitors, Art Basel Hong Kong came to a close on March 29. The 13th edition of the fair, which ran for five days at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, featured 240 galleries from 41 countries and territories, and reported steady sales. David Zwirner reported sales with a 2002 painting by South African artist Marlene Dumas, which sold for $3.5 million. Taka Ishii Gallery sold Jade Fadojutimi’s That day she grieved for the life she never had (2026) for approximately £350,000 ($465,000).

The works of these three artists caught our attention:

Jade Fadojutimi

Nigerian painter Jadé Fadojutimi’s work was presented in a group presentation with Taka Ishii Gallery. Her artistic practice revolves around questions about her own identity and her surroundings. By paying attention to the things that interest her, such as Japanese anime, soundtracks, video games, fashion, and the memories and experiences they evoke, she attempts to find clues to construct a sense of oneself. Interrogating herself incessantly about the fluid nature of identity and how her thoughts, emotions and experiences form her, she reflects on herself and releases her own self through the act of painting. Vivid and brilliant colors in a broad range of concentration and transparency fill up the canvas with brushstrokes in various scales, dots, marks, shapes, and textures. An emotional landscape, drifting between figurative and abstract, emerges with full of energy on the canvas.

Serge Alain Nitegeka

Featured in a group presentation with Pearl Lam Projects was Rwandan artist Serge Alain Nitegeka, whose works engage with memory, migration, and diasporic experience, addressing themes of displacement and belonging. Working with painting and sculpture and committed to his large-scale, site-specific installations, Nitegeka produces works that address issues of identity sparked by forced migration and cultural and political borders. His installations present obstacles that promote participation in the metaphoric experience: they physically bisect three-dimensional space and use the viewer as a further disruptive variable, resulting in a tableau vivant of sorts. Nitegeka’s acute, investigatory aesthetic sense places him within the rich art historical cadre of minimalism and abstraction, while the larger concepts he tackles resonate in the atmosphere of today’s global politics.

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Conceived as a response to both structural complexity and untapped potential, Omenai addresses a critical gap within the global art market: the limited integration of contemporary African artists into a system that has not always reflected the full breadth of artistic production.

With the launch of its platform, Omenai extends its original vision into a fully integrated collecting environment that brings discovery, understanding, and acquisition into a single, seamless experience.

CURATED COLLECTIONS

Every work on Omenai is presented with intention.
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Our curated collections highlight artistic excellence, cultural relevance, and clarity of vision - ensuring collectors encounter quality over volume.
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Discovery is focused.
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EDITORIAL AND MARKET INSIGHTS

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Beyond the artwork, Omenai offers editorial features, artist spotlights, and market insights that illuminate the ideas and movements shaping contemporary African art.⁠
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Because informed collecting begins with understanding.⁠

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Three Emerging Curators of African Art You Should Know

There has been some upward and remarkable movement in the curatorial practices and research focus of curators in the African art scene. Coming up with new perspectives and new ways of reimagining the African reality, these three African curators are reimagining African societies, fostering inclusivity in contemporary art spaces, and shaping the future of contemporary African art.

Chinyere Obieze

Chinyere Obieze is a Nigerian curator and cultural producer who investigates the material negotiations of knowledge systems across technology, nature, culture, and economy. Their practice interrogates how these interconnected forces shape and inform artistic production, with a focus on fostering critical thinking, interdisciplinary practices, and inclusivity in contemporary art spaces. Their work actively engages with artists to co-create spaces of dialogue and empowerment, challenging conventional narratives while opening new avenues for cultural and artistic expression. She is currently building frameworks to understand Africa’s evolving presence in digital environments.

Chinyere Obieze. Image courtesy of Tilley-Gyado Bemuter Victor.

Obieze curates Klub der Weishet (KDW), an ongoing project that works to animate philosophical ideas with performance art; she has also curated Dreaming New Worlds (2023), Kedu Lagos (2024), Chord Notes (2026), and was a curatorial assistant for Lagos Biennial (2024). They will curate the 5th Lagos Biennial.

Aisha Aliyu-Bima

Aisha Aliyu-Bima is a Nigerian curator, writer, researcher, and photographer. She is the Director of Arts at the African School of Economics, Abuja, Nigeria. Her work mainly focuses on Africa’s contemporary arts through a geographical and anthropological lens. Her research subjects include the Hausa Language, its influence and counter-influences across the Sahel, and the interconnections in this region, the past and present cultures of Nok Valley, and material and ecological functions in African Art.

Aliyu-Bima has been published in the Republic Journal, Radr Africa, and Za! Magazine. She has been a Curatorial resident at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and at Angels and Muse in Lagos. Her exhibition “Arewa?” (2024) presented a nuanced tour of Northern Nigeria through the works of its three generations of contemporary artists at the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art, Lagos.

Ng’onga Silupya

Ng’onga Silupya is a curator, cultural practitioner, arts administrator, and art writer based in Lusaka, Zambia. Her curatorial perspective is informed by theories of mediation, cultural studies, visual studies, and art history. Her research interests lie in reimagining societies and communities by embracing indigenous and culturally sustainable practices through contemporary art to address socio-political and environmental issues. Silupya associates her work with narratives, prejudices, superstitious practices, natural phenomena, and physical constructions connected with various ethnic groups in Zambia and across the globe.

Recent roles include Curator at the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Historical Museum (2024), Curator-in-Residence at Hordaland Kunstsenter in Bergen, Norway (2024), and participant in the 2024 Latitudes Online Curatorial Lab. She currently serves on the Executive Board as Vice-National Secretary of the Zambia National Visual Arts Council and heads the exhibitions committee at the Henry Tayali Art Gallery. In 2022, she started Imvelo Studios, a space created to champion Zambian arts and foster a creative community. She is a 2025 TheMuseumsLab Fellow.

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How to Get Represented by an Art Gallery

Artists have different goals at different stages of their careers. As we round up the first quarter of the year, we know that a good number of African artists’ goals this year include getting their art to new audiences, having their first solo presentation, connecting with collectors, and getting into art residencies or fellowships. For some artists, it is getting represented by a reputable art gallery, as it might be the move that positions them for new audiences and art sales.

A gallery representation for an emerging or established artist is a collaboration that can make or mar the progress of an artist in their career. This is why an artist needs to know why this representation is important to them. Depending on the needs of the artist, excellent gallery representation can provide economic, networking, and branding benefits. However, these benefits can change over time. Here is a step-by-step process of what to do to get a good gallery representation as an emerging African artist:

1. Start by building a strong portfolio. This is a way to market yourself to potential galleries. A good portfolio will include high-quality images of your art with clear details on mediums, sizes, and titles. It should also include an artist statement, a bio, and an updated resume of your art that has been shown anywhere before. You can have a personalized website domain, an online portfolio website platform like Dropbox, or any presentation app like Google Slides. Find what works for you.

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Three Artists Centering Women In Their Practice

There is a need for female artists to create art that centers women and expands on the complexities of women’s lived experience. Ghada Amer, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby are three artists known for highlighting women exclusively in their creative and artistic practice. As they explore the female form, identity, and sexuality, their portrayal of women is beyond insightful and inclusive.

Painting, sculpting, photographing, collaging, weaving, and creating mixed-media installations—these three artists are reimagining the multiple spaces women can occupy in the world. With each project even more daring than the last, Ghada Amer, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby are expanding the discourse in progress, revealing how women are breaking away from the norm and extending the limitations put upon women in society. In their continuous exploration and experimentation, their practice centers women in community with one another and in spaces of power, rest, leisure, and pleasure.

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum

Born in Mochudi, Botswana, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum’s multidisciplinary practice is centered heavily on women. Her recently concluded exhibition, Parabellum, at Galerie Lelong included representational paintings and drawings of women. Her works prompt consideration of how information and control are exchanged in a gendered space, while offering glimpses into the multifaceted experiences of feminine friendship and camaraderie. Imbued with a relentless realism, her works are contemporary feminist images made through deceptively superannuated means. They are insightful portrayals of all kinds of women, in all kinds of situations.

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African Artists At Frieze Los Angeles 2026

From February 26 to March 1, 2026, the seventh edition of Frieze Los Angeles returned to Santa Monica Airport. Launched in 2019, Frieze LA is a leading international art fair focused on contemporary art and celebrating the exceptionally dynamic culture of Los Angeles and its global contributions to the visual arts. This year, the fair featured about 100 galleries, an expansive program of ambitious installations, collaborations with nonprofit organizations, and pop-ups from some of Los Angeles’ most beloved restaurants.

These are three African artists and their notable works from the fair:

1. Njideka Akunyili Crosby at David Zwirner Gallery

Nigerian artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s work, Grandmother’s Parlour (2016), led the opening day sales for the David Zwirner Gallery with $2.8 million, which was the highest reported price of the fair. Crosby is known for her methodically layered compositions, which combine painted depictions of people, places, and subjects from her life with photographic transfers derived from her personal image archive, Nigerian magazines, and other mass-media sources. The resulting works are visual tapestries that vivify the personal and social dimensions of contemporary life while evocatively expressing the intricacies of African diasporic identity.

2. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at David Zwirner Gallery

British-Ghanaian artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s painting, Rooted By The Acres (2020), was sold for $1.5 million on view with David Zwirner Gallery. Yiadom-Boakye is known for her evocative figurative paintings, which portray fictional Black subjects drawn from her imagination rather than real life. Her paintings centre on fictional Black figures, capturing intimate, everyday moments in a loose, gestural style. Yiadom-Boakye focuses on mood, character, and atmosphere rather than narrative, inviting viewers to bring their own interpretations.

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Alternative Art Schools You Should Know

For artists, curators, critics, gallerists, and thinkers who want to immerse themselves in the art market, acquiring a formal or informal art education will always be a good way to begin. Alternative art schools are meeting the need for alternative art education, as not everyone is able to afford an MFA program. Alternative art schools focused on how African art is perceived, appreciated, and critiqued are revolutionizing how African art is taught.

Alternative art schools are often artist-run, and their programming can serve multiple purposes, including exhibitions, education, and research. Art professionals will benefit from art education as it encourages critical reflection and engagement, which can lead to an even more vibrant artistic expression. Since the pandemic, more alternative art schools dedicated to African art have been formed across the continent. Below, we have spotlighted three alternative art schools that have been active in the art scene in the last decade. These art schools have been fostering experimentation and collaborations that transcend conventional artistic boundaries.

First on the list is Àsìkò Art School:

The Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, started Àsìkò Art School in 2010. Their objective was to fill a gap in the educational system in Nigeria and many African countries. Their format was a combination of art workshop, residency, and art academy. The program focuses primarily on critical methodology, critical thinking, and the implementation of conceptual ideas. The Àsìkò Art School has benefited both artists and curators who are interested in thinking through the conception and execution of work while experimenting with modes of practice and thought outside of the traditional modes of working. Based in Lagos, the school operates across Accra, Dakar, Maputo, Cairo, and Cape Verde.

Then there is RAW Académie, Dakar:

Started in 2011, the RAW Academy is the residential program of the RAW Material Company. RAW Material Company, founded in 2008, is a center for art, knowledge, and society. The RAW Academy is an experimental program dedicated to artistic research, curatorial practice, and critical writing. The program usually takes place in Dakar for 7 weeks and has welcomed more than 50 artists, writers, researchers, curators, etc. from various nationalities. It is open to visual artists interested in any medium, including writers, musicians, filmmakers, architects, curators, and researchers.

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Debut of New Works in Spring 2026

Renowned Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui debuts new works in two concurrent exhibitions presented by White Cube in Hong Kong and Seoul in March 2026⁠. El Anatsui’s new series expands upon his unique repertoire of works made exclusively from salvaged bottle caps, a medium he has explored for its seemingly limitless aesthetic potential in almost three decades.⁠

About the new series, White Cube says in their press statement, “For the first time, Anatsui places equal emphasis on the recto and verso of the sculpture, allowing the works to be installed either on or away from the wall and viewed from both sides. With an elegantly restrained palette, the works on view mark the artist’s latest formulation of his own key invention – the ‘non-fixed form’.”

This is his first exhibition with White Cube, and the body of sculptural work will be unveiled across the White Cube galleries in Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as at Art Basel Hong Kong.⁠

Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo will also present new and recent works at the Museo di Palazzo Grimani in Venice this spring in his first solo show in Italy. Drawing inspiration from the rich Venetian portrait tradition, Boafo is creating a series of new works specifically for the exhibition, as he directly references this historical context and the unique architecture of the palace.

The show will be co-organised by Gagosian Gallery, which represents the artist, and will coincide with the 61st Venice Biennale, from May 9 to November 22.

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