PRESS RELEASE AKAA

Art & Design Fair November 10-12, 2017 Carreau du Temple, Paris

Press kit - July 2017 1

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Table of contents Press release 4 Tribune Victoria Mann, director

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Spotlight on Africa in Paris

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The Future of an Illusion

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List of exhibitors 10 Selection committee 18 AKAA: The Numbers 20 Cultural program 21 AKAA Underground 23 Monumental installation 24 Invited Foundation: Triad Foundation

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Images for the press 27 Artistic and cultural directors 32 The AKAA team 33 Practical information and contacts 34

Press relations Heymann, Renoult AssociÊes | Agnès Renoult International press : Bettina Bauerfeind, b.bauerfeind@heymann-renoult.com +33 1 44 61 76 76 | www.heymann-renoult.com

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PRESS RELEASE 27 JUNE, 2017 Following the success of its first edition in 2016, AKAA – Also Known As Africa – will be back from November 10-12, 2017 at the Carreau du Temple.

First and only art fair in France devoted to contemporary art and design from Africa, AKAA has instantly found its public: 15.000 collectors and art lovers attended the art fair in 2016.

The enthusiasm for this artistic scene has been confirmed this spring by the numerous events allover France dedicated to contemporary art from Africa.

AKAA is clearly the annual Parisian rendez-vous for this new art market.

AKAA – The fair continues its development In 2017 AKAA brings together 33 galleries from 19 countries.

More than half of its 2017 exhibiting galleries are new to the fair.

New countries are represented: 5 from the African continent (Angola, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda) and 4 from Europe (Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Spain).

Design is expanding within the fair and is now showcased by 10% of the fair’s exhibitors.

A monumental artwork will again be presented in the central alley of the fair.

The lower level of the Carreau du Temple will be used for the 1st time, with the creation of AKAA UNDERGROUND, an art laboratory and meeting place with workshops, talks and book signings. Carte blanche will be given to South African artist Lady Skollie who will create a project for the space.

AKAA – The meeting place for collectors and lovers of art and design from Africa In the continuity of its 1st edition, all types of contemporary expression will be in the spotlight (sculpture, painting, photography, installation and design).

AKAA asserts its identity as an art fair on a human scale and its stature as a commercial and cultural platform. It allows one to discover the breadth and diversity of emerging and established artists from Africa and its diaspora, as well as artists inspired by the continent.

Les Rencontres AKAA – A cultural forum based on exchange and reflection Once again AKAA offers an ambitious program.

Les rencontres AKAA are the opportunity to hear the voices of those who make the contemporary art scene from Africa, inviting the public to come and meet artists, curators and experts and to dialogue with them.

The theme of Les Rencontres AKAA 2017 will be: Healing the world

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TRIBUNE Victoria Mann, Founder and director of AKAA Breaking social barriers, living beyond borders, escaping the familiar‌ Favouring horizontal rather than vertical paths, those which offer surprises, discoveries, unlikely encounters‌ There is a world out there that is in constant flux. This world to be shared is at the core of the adventure, the ineluctable project called AKAA. AKAA stands for a multifaceted Africa, which transcends historical boundaries and whose voice resonates in the four corners of the world, carried by the vision of each artist.

Our Africa is fluid, complex and permeable. It influences and inspires the world by its capacity to innovate and create.

Within a site emblematic of the Parisian architecture, we conceived an event where African and global visions come together to draw a new map of the contemporary art scene.

AKAA is a collaborative project made possible by men and women who share a common passion: engage, transmit, share.

Last year saw the emergence of a chemistry, an effervescence, a positive energy conducive to establishing the market; artists, galleries and art lovers gathered in a welcoming, inclusive and professional space.

AKAA has demonstrated that joining forces and bringing together major actors of the emerging contemporary art scene from Africa can make a difference.

We are pleased to invite you on November 10-12 2017 to discover 38 galleries and 150 artists from 28 different countries inside the beautiful Carreau du Temple.

Four days to share the African energy, hear its hum and feel its vibration.

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SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA IN PARIS

The year 2017 celebrates African art in all its diversity in France. While Africa was the focus of a fair at the Grand Palais, other art institutions made the artists shine.

Emblematic of this enthusiasm, were the acclaimed « Afrique Capitales » in Paris and Lille, curated by Simon Njami, and the solo exhibition of Senegalese artist Soly Cissé at the Musée Dapper.

Another highlight of the season is « Art/Afrique, le nouvel atelier » at La Fondation Louis Vuitton. This remarquable dual exhibition showcases works

by African artists that are selected from the collection of Jean Pigozzi, a pioneer in the field. In parallel, an exhibit is devoted to the contempo-rary South African art scene, which has long been one of the most dynamic on the continent. The Fondation states that « the African continent and cultures today are essential to understanding the world’s artistic landscape. » These series of events were « African Spring » because an array of African artistic and cultural expressions echoed each other within a few months.

The globalization of African art is now a deep and lasting movement. The gallerist Dominique Fiat, talent-spotter for more than 20 years and member of the AKAA selection committee, began exhibi-ting African art in 2009. Two years ago, she launched the « Afriques Capitales » project at La Vil-lette, « a recurring multidisciplinary event on contemporary African art », taking the form of a trave-ling biennale. « I think that fundamentally the African scene has a different sensuality, that the ar-tists have a different way of perceiving the world, bringing freshness with what they want to say and prove. I hope that African collectors will support them in the near future. » In this prolific context, which sharpens more and more the curiosity and appetite of contemporary art collectors, AKAA fair is part of the increasingly powerful movement for the globalization of Afri-can art, allowing us to share multiple perspectives on Africa and from Africa. « AKAA is happening at the right moment. The aim is to consolidate the visibility of the contemporary African scene, complementing the work of the galleries that show acclaimed and emerging artists, and the desire of the institutions to reveal them to the eyes of the public», states Cameroonian artist Bathélémy 66

SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA IN PARIS

Toguo who participated in the first edition of AKAA. In early 2019, he will host part of the Agnes b collection of contemporary art at Bandjoun Station,an art space created in 2008 in Bamileke land. This is a first for a European collection on the African continent.

With a very promising second edition, imminent on the horizon, AKAA fair, well anchored in Paris, takes sincere pleasure in participating in this great global African adventure.

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THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION

by Simon Njami Writer, curator, art critic, artistic director of the Dakar Biennale 12th edition and member of AKAA selection committee

For some time, old Europe has been suffering from a strange fever: contemporary African art! From fairs to exhibitions, from seasons to conferences, suddenly we notice the existence of this continent, which used to represent, according to Joseph Conrad’s expression, “ the heart of darkness ”. And the amusing part is, that with this sudden craze, which we wonder how long will last, we are witnessing mad rushes that seem to come from another time.

All over we hear the word “discovery”, as if Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Vasco de Gama, and Marco Polo had turned into collectors, gallery owners and museum directors: the only ones capable of extracting anything from primitive darkness. As in Sartre’s words: “ For three thousand years, the white man has enjoyed the privilege of seeing without being seen; he was only a look - the light from his eyes drew each thing out of the shadow of its birth; the whiteness of his skin was another look, condensed light. The white man - white because he was a man, white like daylight, white like truth, white like virtue - lighted up the creation like a torch and unveiled the secret white essence of beings ”. Here, the white man, just as the black man, are metaphors of the dominant and the dominated.

“The truth is that for about thirty years, Africa has been working at an exponential pace” Sartre said it all. The world is suddenly pretending that William Kentridge, El Anatsui, Julie Merethu, Pascale Martine Tayou - to name but a few – had been waiting for the Western world’s green light to start creating. The truth is that for about thirty years Africa has been working at an exponential pace. New biennales, festivals and contemporary art centers are launched every year. Young curators (Elvira Dyangani, Koyo Kouoh, Elise Atangana, Bonaventure Ndikung ...) come in great numbers and participate in explaining the contemporary language of Africans to a world stuck on ethnocentric definitions. The market follows, and only follows. It would be wrong to think that the rise of auctions dedicated to Africa is due to chance. Better! A new generation of African business men and women are now aware 8 8

THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION of the importance of the artistic creation in the definition of an identity and in the philosophical and aesthetic positioning (initiatives like Revue Noir greatly contributed to this) of an original and autonomous African thinking.

I could also mention here the AtWork project in which I am involved with Letters 27 foundation, which aims to give young artists from the continent the intellectual tools to envision themselves in a very complex world.

The phenomenon we are witnessing at the moment in the West may be nothing more than an illusion. A trend bound to be swept away by another. But if we take the time to think outside of the old Center, we must recognize that Africans are responsible for making their own voices heard through their work. They will continue creating, whatever quirks the global market --mostly interested in itself -- may have. And if there is something worth noting at the beginning of this new millennium, this is it. Africa and African people won’t wait anymore to be commended by institutions. They had to create out of nothing. And fruits that slowly started to bud are logical steps towards necessary maturity. And at the risk of annoying good willed people who do not understand that Africans have decided to handle their own destiny, I want to shout Sartre’s words: « When you removed the gag that was keeping these black mouths shut, what were you hoping for? That they would sing your praises? Did you think that when they raised themselves up again, you would read adoration in the eyes of these heads that our fathers had forced to bend down to the very ground? Here are black men standing, looking at us, and I hope that you - like me - will feel the shock of being seen. » This « shock of being seen » was already staged by Fernando Alvim, ten years ago at the Venice Biennale. And the blooming of new pavilions, sometimes conceived and produced despite the resistance from the very countries they represent, attests to this movement and will-to-speak on one’s own terms.

Nothing would delight me more than to think that old Europe finally understood that it does not decide everything and no longer had the power of universal control and regulation. The years to come will be highly instructive.

The two fairs dedicated to contemporary art from Africa in Europe are the real indicators of a new awareness because they operate within the economic reality and on the long term. They are private structures that invest money that is no subsidy. This reflects a commitment and a conviction built year after year in the real market world. It would be foolish to confuse the AKAA initiative with those trends that come and go with the wind.

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THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY JUNE20, 27,2017) 2017) 33 international galleries from 19 different countries All types of contemporary creation Please do not publish this list before the end of August

50 GOLDBORNE - London, UK

50 Goldborne was founded by Gallery Perimeter art & design’s director Pascale Revert with the mission to investigate the convergence between contemporary art, design and craft. While 50 Goldborne represents in London a certain number of the artists Perimeter was supporting in Paris, it has a special further focus on makers of Africa and the African disapora, in the context of a global dialogue.

Artists presented at AKAA: Malala Andrialavidrazana - Joana Choumali - Grant Legassick

ADDIS FINE ART - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Fine Art (AFA) opened its new gallery space in early January 2016, in the heart of Ethiopia’s capital. It represents emerging and established artists, with particular focus on art from Ethiopia and its diaspora. AFA aims to champion the most critical, thought-provoking and cutting-edge works.

Artists presented at AKAA: Girma Berta - Michael Tsegaye

ARTS DESIGN AFRICA - France Arts Design Africa is an online gallery dedicated to the promotion and sale of African contemporary works. We are two Parisians, Julie and Justine, passionate about this continent and we want to celebrate with you the cultural ferment of modern Africa, innovative and incredibly creative.

Artists presented at AKAA: Hicham Lahlou - Clara Delord ANGALIA - Meudon, France

Angalia, founded in 2011, exclusively presents visual artists living and working in Congo - Kinshasa. This specialization reflects a strategy based on close attention to and regular engagement with the artists. Pierre Daubert, director of Angalia, has been cultivating these relationships for twenty years with regular visits to Kinshasa.

Artists presented at AKAA: Steve Bandoma – Amani Bodo – Jp Mika – Kura Shomali – Freddy Tsimba

ARTCO - Aachen, Germany Founded in 2003 by Jutta and Joachim Melchers, ARTCO represents a selection of local and international artists, with a particular interest in painting and photography.

The gallery’s main focus is on established and emerging artists with an African background.

Artists presented at AKAA: Bruce Clarke – Richard Mudariki – Ransome Stanley – Marion Boehm – Justin Dingwall – Gary Stephens 10

THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

BARNARD GALLERY - Cape Town, South Africa Barnard Gallery was founded in 2010 by owner and Director Christiaan Barnard and is home to a small but select group of contemporary artists. With a regular program of solo exhibitions by its stable of artists, Barnard Gallery also presents curated group shows and collaborative projects with invited artists that explore diverse aspects of contemporary art practice.

Artists presented at AKAA: Alastair Whitton – Alex Emsley - Alexia Vogel – Jaco Van Schalkwyk – Katherine Spindler – Lien Botha – Mj Lourens – Robyn Penn – Sarah Biggs – Virginia Mackenny CATINCA TABACARU - New York, USA

Catinca Tabacaru Gallery opened in 2014. The themes of identity, gender and time run deep throughout the gallery’s program and activities which are collaborative at their core. True to its roots of curating and branching out into multidisciplinary projects, the Gallery created an Artist Residency in Zimbabwe in 2015; a project which is evolving parallel to its space-driven program.

Artists presented at AKAA: Xavier Robles Medina – Terrence Musekiwa

CIRCLE ART AGENCY - Nairobi, Kenya Circle Art Agency opened its permanent gallery space in Nairobi in 2015, aiming to be the foremost exhibition space in East Africa. Circle Art Agency intends to create a strong, sustainable art market for East African artists by supporting and promoting the most innovative and exciting artists currently practicing in the region Artistes presented at AKAA: Jackie Karuti – Shabu Mwangi – Ato Malinda – Boni Maina DOMINIQUE FIAT - Paris, France

Established in 2004 in the Marais district of Paris, the gallery promotes artists working in different mediums, taking a special interest in installations and site-specific projects as well as different forms of languages, new technologies and traditional techniques. The gallery has increasingly focussed its attention on art from Morocco, the Middle-East and Africa in general.

Artists presented at AKAA: Majida Khattari – Safaa Eruas – Emo De Meideros – Nicola Lo Calzo

DUPRÉ & DUPRÉ - Béziers, France

Dupré & Dupré Gallery was founded in December 2014 in Béziers. Fabrice Delprat presents contemporary French and International artists which correspond to his vision of figurative and abstract painting, drawing, photography and sculpture.

Amongst these artists the new trend of using modest, unconventional and recycled materials is particularly representative.

Artists presented at AKAA: Mohamed Lekleti

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THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

EBONY CURATED - Cape Town, South Africa Co-founders Marc Stanes, Dewald Prinsloo and Leonard de Villiers opened EBONY in 2007 and to date have three spaces in Franschhoek and Cape Town with a focus on fine art and contemporary African design.

EBONY Cape Town opened in 2009 and is a stand-alone gallery in the CBD under the direct curatorial control of Marc Stanes. EBONY has a strong exhibition program that has grown significantly and organically over the past 4 years, managed by a dedicated team. EBONY represents an expanding core group of both young and established international and local artists all of whom have strong links to the African Continent and are often inspired by historical references.

Artists presented at AKAA: Wole Lagunju - Kaloki Nyamai - Zemba Luzamba ESPAÇO LUANDA ART - Luanda, Angola ELA – Espaço Luanda Arte explores project based and site specific shows, with ample space for up to three solo private and five collective residences at any given moment, an area for round tables, discussions and artist talks, and a very large exhibition area for solo exhibitions, duets and collective shows. ‘ELA’ is particularly interested in pan African collaborations between artists, curators and galleries, therefore holding intra-continental workshops and residencies; and participating in key international fairs, forums and art biennials and triennials through the artists its represents.

Artists presented at AKAA: Kapela Paulo – Pedro Pires FIRST FLOOR HARARE - Harare, Zimbabwe

First Floor Gallery Harare is Zimbabwe’s first international, independent, emerging contemporary artist-run space. The gallery was born out of a need to foster and support the emerging talents in the visual art sector of Zimbabwe, with a mission to bridge cultural, economic and historical divides through art and social innovation.

Artists presented at AKAA: Troy Makaza - Richard Butler Bowdon - Lauren Webber Helen Teede - Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude

GALERIE 127 - Marrakesh, Morocco Galerie 127 is the only gallery exclusively dedicated to photography in Marocco. For 10 years, the gallery has presented the work of photographers whose thematics are mainly linked to Morocco. Gallery 127 features exhibitions of confirmed artists and also supports young, often autodidactic artists.

Artists presented at AKAA: Daoud Aoulad-Syad - Carolle benitah - Flore - Marco Barbon Safaa Mazirh - Denis Dailleux - Hicham Gardaf - Jean Marc Tingaud - Diana Lui - Mo baala

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THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

GALERIE AICHA GORGI - Sidi Bou Saïd, Tunisia Since its creation in 1988, the gallery Aicha Gorji has had the mision to participate in the renewal of artistic practice in Tunisia. The gallery supports artists which express themselves in a contemporary perspective simultaneously open to the world and rooted in its close environment.

Artists presented at AKAA: Aicha Snoussi – Haytem Zakaria – Douraid Souissi – Yasmine Ben Khelil GALERIE ATISS - Dakar, Senegal

A pioneer in Senegal, Atiss gallery opened in 1996 on the occasion of the African contemporary art biennale Dak’Art, presenting local artists who have since become famous like Soly Cissé, Camara Guéye and Serigne Mbaye Camara. Discovering new talents, the gallery has rapidly expanded its interest to artist from other African countries. Thanks to its collaboration with MAM gallery in Douala or galerie CHAB in Bamako, or to projects like the Galeries Plastiques Itinérantes, Atiss gallery contributes to stimulate the profession in Africa.

Artists presented at AKAA: Aliou Diack – Oumar Ball – Balla Niang

GALERIE JEAN DENIS WALTER - Paris, France Jean-Denis Walter gallery presents and sells limited editions of sport photography by some of the most famous photographers.

All the authors represented by the gallery have an extraordinary eye. Some of them are specialized, others are not. All of them give you a different personal, rare and esthetic vision of this very particular world of sport.

Artists presented at AKAA: Colin Delfosse – Thomas Hoeffgen – Jose Nicolas – Philippe de Poulpiquet – Patrick Gripe GALERIE LE SUD - Zurich, Switzerland Le Sud is a contemporary African art gallery that aims to engage in promoting African artistic practises. Founded by Ted Gueller in 2006, Le Sud was an organic outcome of Gueller’s passion for African art and culture. Based in Zurich, Le Sud is the only gallery in Switzerland that offers a platform both for established and emerging artists from Africa and the diaspora.

Artists presented at AKAA: Gopal Dagnogo – Joel Mpah – Momar Seck

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THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

GALERIE MAM / FONDATION DONWAHI - Douala, Cameroon / Abidjian, Ivory Coast Galerie Mam has been created in order to play a significant role in promoting visual arts and contemporary creation in Africa. Placing an emphasis on all forms of creative expression (painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography , design...), the gallery has the pleasure to showcase and to communicate a perspective on a shared art market and a greater accessibility to original works of art, in a first phase by creating a network of cultural spaces in Africa.

Artists presented at AKAA: Boris Nezbo – Aida Muluneh – Médéric Turay – Franck Abd Bacar Fanny GALERIE NUMBER 8 - Brussels, Belgium

Galerie Number 8 is a new art gallery celebrating black aesthetic and diversity in photography and mixed media. The gallery represents respected emerging and mid-career international contemporary artists documenting, exploring topics across cultural identity.

Artists presented at AKAA: David Uzochukwu – Campbell Addy – Samia Ziadi

GALERIE VALLOIS - Paris, France

Created by Robert Vallois in 1983, the gallery was initially devoted to contemporary sculpture. It has gradually opened to other mediums and now represents painters, photographers and sculptors. Since 2012, the gallery has promoted the young generation of African visual artists, mainly those from Benin. With the desire to support and promote this young generation of Beninese artists, Robert Vallois funded the construction of the multidisciplinary Arts and Culture Center in AbomeyCalavi, Benin.

Artists presented at AKAA: Marius Dansou – Remy Samuz – Gerard Quenum – Richard Korblah – King Houdekpinkou- Dominique Zinkpé

GUNS & RAIN - Johannesburg, South Africa Guns & Rain is one of Africa’s very first online galleries, featuring works by contemporary artists from Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Bostwana. Most of our artists are young and emerging, but some of them are already established.

Guns & Rain has organised exhibitions on a regular basis for over two years, and is quite involved with the artists represented (residency programmes, support in production of new works).

Artists presented at AKAA: Jo Rogge – Nicola Brandt 14

THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

L’AGENCE À PARIS - France - AFRIART - Kampala,Uganda

L’Agence à Paris and Afriart gallery in Kampala jointly exhibit at AKAA 2017. The Ugandan gallery will present artists such as Eria Sane, a talented draftsman and Sanaa Gateja, an East African artist that can measure up with the greatest names of the African art scene. L’Agence à Paris represents artists in all media while building strong ties of collaboration with foreign institutions and galleries. It will present the series « Imaginary Trip » from the young and promising congolese photographer Gosette Lubondo as well as works by Katia Kameli and internationally recognized artist Bili Bidjocka, and Paul Mvoutoukoulou from Congo Brazzaville, and will also show drawings by Pélagie Gbaguidi.

Artists presented at AKAA: Gosette Lubondo - Paul Alden Mvoutoukoulou - Eria Sane - Sanaa Gateja - Pélagie Gbaguidi - Bili Bidjocka - Katia Kameli

LOFT ART GALLERY - Casablanca, Morocco Loft gallery is a major supporter of the Moroccan art scene. Myriem and Yasmine Berrada founded Loft gallery in 2009 in Casablanca. Loft gallery has constantly made extensive research and edited publications about Modern Art in Morocco. Since its creation, the gallery has represented the greatest names of that Modern movement, as well as founded a special program for emergent and talented Moroccan artists.

For six years now, the gallery has been working in close relations with major global artistic institutions in order to promote Moroccan art internationally.

Artists presented at AKAA: Mohamed Melehi – Moa Bennani – Mohamed Hamidi – Abderrahim Yamou – Omar Mahfoudi – Hicham Benohoud – Amina Rezki – Kim Bennani – Stella & Claudel – Nour Eddine El Ghoumari LOUISIMONE GUIRANDOU - Abidjan, Ivory Coast

After 25 years of fascinating discoveries with Arts Pluriels, the art historian Mrs Guirandou offers a new showcase for creators from five continents and a new space, the LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery. This space is the outcome of more than 30 years of artistic and cultural activities carried out by its founder for a growing family of artists, partners and friends.

Artists presented at AKAA: Nù Barreto – Ange Mene – Jean Seravais Somian

MAELLE GALLERY - Paris, France Launched in 2012 in Paris, la Maëlle Galerie, a contemporary art gallery, serves as a federating platform for new contemporary artistic practices. It wishes to introduce, promote, and support emerging and established artists, at a national and international level. Through these artists, the gallery hopes to achieve a kind of “affirmed multifarious consistency.”

Its direction is resolutely oriented towards body, femininity, gender and identity 15

THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

concerns with an anthropological, social and sometimes political approach.

Maëlle Gallery also specializes in Caribbean artists who open and turn the fields of the possible upside down. The gallery has a careful eye upon the young and famous names from the West Indies.

Artists presented at AKAA: Ernest Breleur, Emmanuel Rivière, Jean-François Boclé

OCTOBER GALLERY - London, United Kingdom

Founded in 1979, the gallery exhibits contemporary artists from around the world.

For over 35 years October Gallery has been a pioneer in the development of the Trans-avant-garde movement. October Gallery has played a crucial role in focusing world attention on contemporary art from Nigeria, and more widely from Africa and its diaspora.

Artists presented at AKAA: Eddy Kamuanga - Ilunga Rachid Koraïchi Alexis Peskine - Naomi Wanjiku - Gakunga Romuald Hazoumè Nnenna Okore

OUT OF AFRICA- Barcelona, Spain Out of Africa represents about twenty contemporary artists working in painting, sculpture, photography and design. European artists inspired by Africa, and emerging African artists, noted for their freedom of expression and the originality of their artistic language. Firmly focused on modernism, while at the same time remaining strongly attached to African values, our artists affirm that socio-cultural differences are a great source of creative wealth.

Artists presented at AKAA: Aboudia – Mederic Turay – Hamed Ouattara – Siaka Soppo Traore – Boureima Ouedraogo SULGER BUEL LOVELL - London, United Kingdom

Sulger-Buel Lovell is positioned as part of a new approach in understanding the trajectories of contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora.

Our belief is that the socio-cultural and economic transformations of Africa can be better understood through the analysis and interpretation of cutting-edge art.

Furthermore, contemporary art in Africa is relevant in understanding the broader socio- political context of the continent.

Sulger-Buel Lovell offers a strategic partnership approach with artists, and a highly individual approach to clients.

The gallery, based in London with a head-office in Cape Town, accompanies existing and new collectors to this emerging market. We are dedicated to the long term success of the collectors and artists we work with.

Artists presented at AKAA: Soly Cisse – Slimen El Kamel – Pélagie Gbaguidi

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THE EXHIBITORS (NON EXHAUSTIVE SHORTLIST AS OF JULY 20, 2017)

THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE - Luanda, Angola

This Is Not a White Cube (TINAWC) is an art gallery based in Luanda, focused on representing emerging contemporary artists, from Angola and its diaspora. TINAWC aims to bring together artists with a scope of work that has historical, technological, urbanistic or design as a common element, either as a support or source of inspiration.

As a multidisciplinary space and, in addition to its annual program, the gallery supports experimentation, research, project development, artistic residencies and with regular discussions, talks on contemporary artistic practices, workshops, lectures, films, publications and archives.

Artists presented at AKAA: Ana Silva - Januario Jano - Keyezua - Nelo Texeira

TYBURN- London, United Kingdom

Tyburn Gallery is dedicated to international contemporary art. The gallery exhibits, represents and champions established artists and younger talents from a global range of evolving art scenes.

Artists presented at AKAA: Mohau Modisakeng

VISION QUEST - Genoa, Italy Vision Quest was created in 2009 with the sole intent to promote and divulge photography in all its forms, especially in Italy. It was and still is the only space in the city of Genoa dealing exclusively with photography. Besides exhibitions, the gallery holds artist talks, lectures involving photographers, curators, critics and writers as well as book presentations and workshops.

The gallery collaborates closely with national museums and galleries.

Artists presented at AKAA: Patrick Willocq VOICE GALLERY - Marrakesh, Morocco

In 2011 VOICE gallery opened in Marrakech, choosing the Moroccan city for its cultural vibrancy and artistic tradition. The gallery’s mission is to create exhibitions through a socially engaged and dynamic program. Lead by principles of transformation, VOICE gallery aims to provide a space for artists to express themselves both within and beyond a gallery context. It works to create cultural exchanges that mirror the lively markets (souks of Marrakech), as a center for trade. With focus both on local and international artists, VOICE gallery is forming networks for young artists to collaborate and share ideas. It creates an all-encompassing space for artists that exceed identity and cultural origin.

Artists présentés à AKAA : Sara Ouhaddou – Owanto- Eric Van Hove – Mourabiti

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SELECTION COMMITTEE

An international selection committee composed of 4 qualified professionals from the art world accompanies AKAA in its gallery selection

Dominique Fiat Dominique Fiat graduated in History and Art History while training in classical and contemporary dance. Then, she became a photo model and worked in the fashion industry for many years.

In the 1990’s, she opened her first gallery in Paris, Fiat & Dhoye art contemporain and then partnered with Claudine Papillon. In 2004, she opened the gallery Dominique Fiat in the Marais, nearby the Picasso museum. She specialized in contemporary art and new images technologies. Dominique Fiat supports the most original creators by organizing the first French exhibitions of young talents such as Camille Henrot, Safaa Erruas, Hicham Berrada and Eva Nielsen. The gallery participates in many fairs: FIAC, Paris-Photo, Photo Miami, Volta New York and Art Basel and encouraged the development of emerging markets by joining the Marrakech and Istanbul art fairs.

Elisabeth Lalouschek Elisabeth Lalouschek, Artistic Director & Art Sales Director at October Gallery, London, was born in Vienna and holds an MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art. She joined October Gallery in 1987 and has been instrumental in creating a solid foundation for the idea of the “transvangarde”, the transcultural avantgarde. Lalouschek has furthered the careers of a range of outstanding artists. She has organised and curated the majority of exhibitions at October Gallery, as well as collaborated on numerous projects nationally and internationally, most notably those promoting contemporary African art.

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SELECTION COMMITTEE Simon Njami Simon Njami is a writer, independant curator, art critic, essayist and lecturer. Co-founder of the legendary Revue Noire, devoted to African and non-Western contemporary art, Simon Njami was a pionier in showcasing the works of contemporary African artists on the international scene, and reflecting on their work. He was the Artistic Director of the Rencontres de Bamako, the African photography Biennale from 2001 to 2007. His famous exhibition Africa Remix, was presented in Düsseldorf, London, Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Stockholm from 2004 to 2007. He co-curated the first African pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale. He participated in the development of the first African contemporary art fair in Johannesburg in 2008. He was also the Director of the Triennial of Luanda and Douala in 2010 and the Artistic Director of Picha, the Lubumbashi Biennale in 2010. His exhibition The Divine Comedy – Heaven, Hell, Purgatory by Comtemporary African Artists was presented to the MMK in Frankfurt, the SCAD Museum of Savannah and the Smithsonian - National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC. He is the Art Adviser of the Sindika Dokolo Foundation (Luanda) and the Artistic Director of the Donwahi Foundation (Abidjan).

He is a member of the scientific board of numerous museums. Simon Njami was the Artistic Director of Dak’Art Biennial, which was held from May 3 to June 2, 2016 in Dakar, Sénégal.

Azu Nwagbogu Azu Nwagbogu is the founder, curator and director of LagosPhoto Festival and AAF Gallery, a subsidiary of the African Artists Foundation. African Artists Foundation is a not for profit organisation founded in 2007 dedicated to promoting art in relation to Africa and diaspora. AAF organises art exhibitions, competitions, and workshops with the aim of unearthing and developing artistic talent in Africa. Azu Nwagbogu founded the National Art Competition in 2008, an annual visual arts competition in Nigeria that provides a platform of exposure to emerging Nigerian artists. Azu Nwagbogu also serves as founder and director of the LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography that brings leading local and international photographers in dialogue with multifaceted stories of Africa. Azu Nwagabogu has served as a juror for the Dutch Doc, World Press Photo, Rencontres de Arles and the POPCAP Photography Awards. Azu Nwagbogu has curated several local and international exhibitions including the Arles Discovery Award. He lives and works in Lagos.

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AKAA: THE NUMBERS

33 international galleries from 19 countries: South Africa Germany Angola Belgium Cameroon Ivory Coast Spain Ethiopia France Italy Kenya Morocco United Kingdom Senegal Switzerland Tunisia Uganda USA Zimbabwe

134 artists presented from 28 countries

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CULTURAL PROGRAM

Africa is no longer the passive object of the gaze in search of exoticism. It is instead the energy center of limitless international exchange. The goal of AKAA’s cultural program, which includes non-profit exhibition spaces, conference forums, meetings, roundtables, and performances, is to encourage these exchanges.

LES RENCONTRES AKAA Les Rencontres AKAA is a place where the barriers between artists, the public and diverse figures in the art world come down. A program of conversations, film screenings and artistic performances will give the public a chance to meet artists, curators and other art enthusiasts whose passion and initiative bring contemporary art to life in Africa and elsewhere. The public will also be able to participate in direct dialogue with members of the discussion panels.

LES RENCONTRES will take place in the auditorium of the Carreau du Temple over a two-day period.

« HEALING ARTISTS » The 2017 edition of the RENCONTRES AKAA, curated by the fair’s cultural programme director Salimata Diop, is celebrating artists whose creative practice relates to the process of healing.

Artist Nu Barreto’s creative process is intimately linked to a primary colour -- a vivid red -- symbolising pain and the convulsive despair of Men. His special attachment to this red takes us back to wars - such as the 1998 civil war in Guinea-Bissau - that might be easier to forget about. But the sight of the symbolic blood and the artist’s poetic compositions pushes us into an act of remembering. “ Red, he says, is one of the rare colours, if not the only colour, that has two functions: therapy and emotion”.

Create in order to heal, that is the process that engages young Paul Alden Mvoutoukoulou when he draws maps of cities from the sky, using empty drug vials.

His installations are born from his mother’s sickness, from his habit of watching her take pills, and from his desire to use this pain as a material. Paul Alden Mvoutoukoulou succeeds in turning it into an artistic medium and in transforming despair into a vision capable of surprising us and making us dream. This becomes a most beautiful tribute.

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CULTURAL PROGRAM

When we are blind, the artist heals us and warns us of a threatening future: visionary by essence, he offers an unexpected perspective.

When we are displaced, the artist heals us and revives our inherited memories, giving us back our history. He caresses and soothes us.

When we turn our eyes away, the artist heals us and, pointing at the mirror, he makes us face our denial and, at the same time, our responsibility.

The artist heals us, embraces our voids and fills them with hope for a new day.

Thus, as true catalysts for change, contemporary artists unveil our traumas and eliminate them one by one.

After taking us into intriguing visual journeys through diverse artistic practices, LES RENCONTRES AKAA invite us you to revive our ties with our ills, whether individual or collective, whether denied or conscious: ills that are mercilessly highlighted by the artist.

Our guests for this edition - artists, curators, philosophers and writers - discuss the following postulate: when Men and society are ill, art heals.

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AKAA UNDERGROUND

AKAA UNDERGROUND has been conceived as a way to enrich the visitors’ experience through the creation of an art laboratory on the lower level of the Carreau du Temple.

Here the public will discover a café presenting a program of workshops, artists meetings, book signings, performances and more…

For this first edition of AKAA UNDERGROUND, the South-African artist Lady Skollie has been given carte blanche to create a project that will not fail to impress you.

We also invite you to meet young endeavors like Little Africa, Partnership Editions and Maison Château Rouge, which present ever more innovative concepts and collections.

Come enjoy a drink of bissap juice and chat with one of the artists presented at the fair. Participate in a discussion on contemporary design in Africa, take a stroll through AKAA’s library or simply have coffee with friends and new acquaintances.

We are waiting for you at AKAA UNDERGROUND

Carte blanche to Lady Skollie Lady Skollie was born in 1987 in Cape Town, South Africa. She currently lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The artist uses ink, watercolour and crayon to create playfully sexual paintings, filled with bright colours, symbolic fruit, and all the joy and darkness of the erotic. Her work is simultaneously bold and vulnerable, expressing the duality of human sexuality. An intensely feminist artist, she is passionate about defying taboos and talking openly about issues of sex, pleasure, consent, human connection and abuse. A part of the new, digitally engaged generation of young artists, she expresses herself openly on social media, as well as recording a regular podcast where she discusses sexuality and relationships.

Her work has been exhibited widely across South Africa, with a number of special projects at the Michael Stevenson Gallery and the Association for Visual Arts. She has been featured on CNN Africa and CNN International on ‘African Voices’.

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MONUMENTAL INSTALLATION

Purify the world The Latin word pedilluvium means footbath, referring to any temporary or permanent device designed to wash bare feet. Washing feet is a symbolic act that must be accomplished before entering in a sacred place. The space created by Bili Bidjocka is undoubtedly imbued with a sacred dimension. His installation invites us to recover a state of purity. It can also be seen as the receptacle of the sorrows of the world - like a basin of tears, an outlet for internal exorcism. The suspended dresses that whirl over the basin are symbols of wandering souls waiting for redemption. The whole installation invites us to meditation and introspection, to a profane ceremony of remission and healing where all the pain of the world can be washed away, as long as we are receptive and open. This is a poem. A fundamental requiem to survival in a contemporary period contaminated by hatred and violence. This is an ode to peace - not as a naive intention to remake the world, but, more ambitiously, as a desire to change ourselves.

Simon Njami

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MONUMENTAL INSTALLATION

Artist: Bili Bidjocka (Cameroon) Bili Bidjocka est représenté par l’Agence à Paris.

Bili Bidjocka, was born in 1962 in Douala. He has been living in Paris since 1974 where, after dance and theater, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts. He considers, for some years now, art as an enigma. The answers brought to him by his teachers at the School of Fine Arts, those certainties etched in the minds of students, have long been revealed as inadequate.

His confrontation with market laws, history and his own African identity forced him to see with new eyes the notion of art. After trying painting, he turned to installation and theatrical staging. His pieces begin to function as puzzles, riddles through which he continues the essential examination of the meaning and purpose of creation. Bili Bidjocka participated in many international exhibitions: the Biennales of Johannesburg (1997), Havana (1997), Dakar (2000 and 2016), Taipei (2004) and Venice (2007). He presented his work in many museums and art galleries: New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York; ARC Museum of Modern Art of Paris; Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels; Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg – Cape Town; and on the occasion of the exhibition Africa Remix and “The Divine Comedy” by Simon Njami. He is the founder of the creative platform Matrix Art Project (MAP) in Paris, Brussels and New York. Bili Bidjocka is a painter. His favorite form of expression is that of painting. But painting isn’t simply a technique. It must not evoke a canvas hanging on a wall, a palette of colors, but rather a vocabulary, writing whose rules speak of initiation, that is to say of a decisive experience. Throughout his career, Bidjocka embarked on an exploration of this infinite space, using whatever means were available to him: video, installation, acrylic, oil, architecture, poetry, until he got to the point where this quest finally made sense. A harmony, a logic. This quest had no other objective than the quest itself, in other words, knowledge. Here, we are not talking about an earthly knowledge, bookish, academic, but an alchemical knowledge, something that is of the magical. In 2017, Bili Bidjocka participates to Documenta14 with the project “The Chess Society”, showed in Athens, Kassel, and online. Bili Bidjocka is represented by l’Agence à Paris.

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INVITED FOUNDATION: TRIAD FOUNDATION TRIAD is pleased to present SHIELDS, a project by Virginia Ryan and René Peña. SHIELDS has been selected and invited as a foundation project by AKAA - Also Known As Africa Contemporary, art and design fair in Paris, 1012 November 2017.

The work of both artists investigates the relationship between white and black, between contrast and contact, between the object (the « prima materia », skin or found objects stranded on a beach) and the often visceral relationship born of the transformation of « raw » material: our own skinsurface in the case of Gonzales or that of abandoned debris, as in Ryan’s large objects of contemplation. As both artists remind us, many ancient shields were originally made of skin - the two artists circulate notions of time, of departure and return, of body-memory colliding with contemporary power-object to meditate on collective histories, both within and beyond the individual physical body.

René Peña, Untitled , C print/ canvas, 245x172 cm, 2012, Ed/ 1/3

Virginia Ryan, Bouclier Bassamoise 1, Found objects, mixed media on metal in wooden box,120 x 150 x 40cm, 2015. jpg

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IMAGES FOR THE PRESS

Lady Skollie , They’ll suck you dry beware, 2016 - 151 x 165 cm Courtesy Tyburn Gallery The image is not representative of the project being produced

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IMAGES FOR THE PRESS

Girma Berta, Moving Shadows Series II , IX, 2017, Digital Archival Print, 40 x 40 cm, Image courtesy of Addis Fine Art

Marion Boehm, Holy Shrine, 2017, collage, fabric and mixed media, 140 x 108 cm Image courtesy ArtCo Gallery

Xavier Robles de Medina, en het donker duurde een volle nacht, 2016, graphite on paper, 34,5 x 42,17 cm Courtesy Cantica Tabacaru

Emo de Meideros, Points de Résistance, 2013-2017, Aluminum, car body painting, audio files Approx. 20 × 20 × 20 cm each Courtesy Dominique Fiat

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IMAGES FOR THE PRESS Joel Mpah, Postcard, 20 x 120 cm Courtesy Galerie Le Sud

Zinkpe, Unions, 2010, wood and pigments, 190 x 70 X 29 x 163 cm Courtesy Galerie Vallois

Boris Nzebo, La rage du peuple, 2017 Acrylic on canvas,150x150 cm, Courtesy Galerie MAM / Fondation Donwahi

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IMAGES FOR THE PRESS

Addy Campbell, Agape V, 2016 Courtesy the artist and Galerie Number 8, Brussels

David Uzochukwu , Wildfiret, 2015 Courtesy Galerie Number 8, Brussels

Nnenna Okore, Never Hurry the Sunrise, 2013. Burlap and dye, dimensions variable Photo courtesy the artist Courtesy October Gallery

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IMAGES FOR THE PRESS

Hamed Ouattara - Mueble Soundiata - 40cm diam x 122 cm haut - Recycling of lubricants barrils Courtesy Out Of Africa

Keyezua; Serie Royal Generation #3, 2016 118X84 cm, Ink-jet print on paper Courtesy This is not a White Cube

Mohau Modisakeng, Passage Frames 1-13, 2017 - Epson Hot Press Natural, 150 x 200 cm Courtesy Tyburn Gallery

Patrick Willocq ; The art of survival, Courtesy Vision Quest

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ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL DIRECTORS

Victoria Mann

Founder and director of AKAA AKAA’s founder, Victoria Mann, is a 31-year-old Franco-American art lover and entrepreneur who comes from a family of art collectors, successful business owners and world travelers.

Victoria Mann discovered traditional and contemporary African art during her BA studies at Connecticut College in the USA and while pursuing her master’s degree in Art History at Ecole du Louvre.

Victoria Mann is now implementing her vision of a fair dedicated to contemporary African art and design, a project that has matured throughout her academic and professional career. AKAA is made possible thanks to Victoria Mann’s determination and passion as well her dynamic team.

Salimata Diop

Director of the Cultural Program Salimata Diop is a curator based in Dakar, Senegal.

She has curated a number of exhibitions in Senegal, France, and the UK, for instance: XEET at 50Golborne gallery (October 2015 London), 53 Echoes of Zaire, (MaySeptember 2015, London), UNIVERS/UNIVERSE and GRAIN DE FOLIE (May 2014, Dakar Biennale). She regularly contributes to art publications, exhibition catalogues and TV documentaries including ArtAfrica & IAM –Intense Art Magazine.

Salimata Diop teaches in the MA in History and Business of the Contemporary Art Market, IESA & the University of Warwick. Founding director of training agency Creative Intelligence with educationalist Liz Lydiate, she aims to develop professional practice support for actors of the art world in Africa and beyond.

N’goné Fall

Art adviser N’Goné Fall graduated with distinction from the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. She is an independent curator, an essayist and a consultant in cultural policies.

She has been the editorial director of the Paris-based contemporary African art magazine Revue Noire from 1994 to 2001.

N’Goné Fall edited books on contemporary visual arts and photography and curated exhibitions in Africa, Europe and the USA. She was a guest curator of the African photography encounters in Bamako in 2001 and the Dakar contemporary art biennial in 2002. As a consultant in cultural policies she is the author of strategic plans, orientation programs and evaluation reports for national and international cultural institutions and art foundations. N’Goné Fall has been an associate professor at the Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt (master department of creative industries) from 2007 to 2011. She is a founding member of the Dakar-based collective GawLab, a platform for research and production on art in public spaces and technology applied to artistic creativity.

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THE AKAA TEAM

Victoria Mann

Founder and director T. +33 (0)6 79 78 10 12 victoria.mann@akaafair.com

Marie Roussille

Partnerships T. +33 (0)6 09 41 90 00 marie.roussille@akaafair.com

Brigitte BollĂŠ

Administration T. +33 (0)6 12 31 26 32 brigitte.bolle@akaafair.com

CĂŠline Melon

Public Relations & Media T. +33 (0)6 11 77 45 47 celine.melon@akaafair.com

Salimata Diop

Director of the Cultural Program salimata.diop@akaafair.com

Pauline Rolland

Exhibitors Liaison pauline.rolland@akaafair.com

Marie Pellicier

Communications Assistant marie.pellicier@akaafair.com

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND CONTACT

AKAA November 10-12, 2017 Adress

Le Carreau du Temple 4 rue Eugène Spuller 75003 Paris T. 01 83 81 93 30 www.carreaudutemple.eu

Transports

By Metro: M3 Temple / M3, M5, M8, M9, M11

By Vélib: Station Perrée

Hours

Thursday November 9: 2 pm - press preview / 3 pm - professional preview / 6 pm-10 pm - vernissage (with invitation) Friday November 10: 11 am - 8 pm Saturday November 11: 11 am - 8 pm Sunday 12 November : 11 am - 6 pm

Tickets

Full price: 16€ Half price: 8€

Press relations Heymann, Renoult Associées | Agnès Renoult International press: Bettina Bauerfeind, b.bauerfeind@heymann-renoult.com +33 1 44 61 76 76 | www.heymann-renoult.com

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