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1 month ago | 
theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars |Stephanie Sporn |Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Lee Cheshire
The architect Lina Ghotmeh has been chosen to design Qatar’s permanent pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The announcement was made last week by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the chairperson of Qatar Museums. Once completed, the Qatar pavilion, located in the heart of the Giardini della Biennale, will be only the third pavilion added to the historic Giardini in more than 50 years. Ghotmeh has described her practice as an “archaeology of the future”.
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2 months ago | 
theartnewspaper.com | Gameli Hamelo |Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Ayodeji Rotinwa |Anna Brady
The London-born and based artist Emma Prempeh hit a major career milestone in 2021, debuting in Africa with a solo show at ADA Contemporary Art Gallery in Accra, Ghana, her father’s homeland. The show was preceded by a month-long residency in the West African country. It was a decision “to connect with my heritage”, she tells The Art Newspaper.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Carlie Porterfield |Tom Seymour |Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Anna Brady
For this year’s 1-54 Contemporary African Art fair in Marrakech, 30 galleries from all over the world set up stands at La Mamounia, the palatial luxury hotel on the edge of the city's chaotic medina, as well as the art events space Dada just off Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square, which is filled by day with food stalls and performers catering to tourists.
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Tom Seymour |Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Aimee Dawson |Anny Shaw
The Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), inaugurated in 2018 as the first museum of contemporary art in Marrakech, is reopening on 2 February after a major refit and a structural evaluation in the wake of the 2023 earthquake. Originally designed by the French architect Didier Lefort, the museum has been closed since the spring of 2023.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Carlie Porterfield |Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Anna Brady |Anny Shaw
The 1-54 Contemporary African Art fair will return to Morocco this month for its sixth Marrakech edition (30 January-2 February), the smallest of its fairs which organisers hope will allow for more in-depth connections between dealers and collectors, unlike the bustle of a typical sprawling, white-walled mega-fair. Drawing its name from the 54 countries on the continent, 1-54 is the only major fair dedicated to showcasing art from Africa and its diaspora.
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May 17, 2024 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Chinma Johnson-Nwosu
A recent report published by the London-based art market research firm ArtTactic shows that global auction sales for Modern and contemporary African art contracted by 8.4% in 2023. Sales of Modern and contemporary African art at the top three auction houses—Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips—fell by an average of 16% according to the investment and wealth management firm Investec. Sotheby’s saw a drop in sales of 60.3% in this category—$3m in 2023, down from $7.5m in 2022.
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Apr 18, 2024 | 
artnewspaper.fr | Chinma Johnson-Nwosu
Le Bénin est en pleine renaissance artistique. Sa nouvelle politique culturelle, se traduisant par quatre nouveaux projets de musées qui doivent ouvrir dans les cinq prochaines années, ainsi que par l’investissement dans l’éducation et la formation artistiques et la restitution d’objets patrimoniaux, s’inscrit dans une démarche plus globale du président du pays, Patrice Talon, et de son gouvernement. Elle vise à faire des arts le « deuxième pilier » de l’économie, après l’agriculture.
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Apr 17, 2024 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Alexander Morrison |José Da Silva
The African country of Benin is in a period of artistic renaissance. The revitalisation of its museum infrastructure—culminating in four new museum projects over the next five years—as well as investment in arts education and training and the repatriation of royal artefacts are all part of a wider mission by President Patrice Talon and his government to position the arts as a “second pillar” of the economy, after agriculture.
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Apr 17, 2024 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Chinma Johnson-Nwosu
The Republic of Benin, which is making its debut appearance at the Venice Biennale this year, is turning to culture as part of a strategy to spur economic growth. Its government is building four new museums in a range of locations and a cultural quarter in the largest city, Cotonou, in addition to boosting investment in arts education. A museum in the coastal city of Ouidah, from where the last recorded shipment of slaves to the US departed in 1860, will explore the history of slavery.
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Apr 16, 2024 | 
theartnewspaper.com | Chinma Johnson-Nwosu
Could your visit to New York’s Brooklyn Museum soon come with a soundtrack? Having been selected earlier this month as the Brooklyn Museum’s first composer-in-residence, the 27-year-old cellist Niles Luther has begun his term by creating scores to accompany the institution’s newest exhibition, Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo (feat. Takashi Murakami). But he wants to go further.
