At Art News Africa, we are documenting the African Art revolution and supporting African art through its initiatives. In 2022, we spotlighted African artists and artists with African heritage; African art events within and outside the continent; African curators and curators with African heritages’ breakthrough; galleries and art fairs breakouts in Africa and in the diaspora; global collaborations; and awards and high auction records. It has been an incredible and defining year for the art scene in Africa for African artists across the world.
In case you missed it, here is a list of our top 10 most-read articles of 2022.
We highlighted the top 5 most expensive artworks sold by African artists in the year when the art market eases back on track post-pandemic at a remarkable speed. Cornelius Annor’s works made their auction debut, and art pieces by Akunyili Crosby, Aboudia, Watts, and Fordjour outperformed their marks.
For emerging artists and established artists, we made a list of yearly open calls and opportunities for contemporary artists in Africa. On this list, we have opportunities like the Rele Young Contemporaries, Black Rock Senegal, Art X Prize and Noldor Residency that can launch an emerging artist’s career on a global scale. You can check this out to find out when they open in 2023 and their entry requirements.
The Benin Bronzes have long dominated restitution discussions. In 1987, the British looted at least 3,000 of the items from the Kingdom of Benin. On October 11, 2022, the Smithsonian Institution legally transferred ownership of 29 artworks to the Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments, of which nine of the items will remain on long-term loan at the Smithsonian. A few of the bronzes that were returned to Nigeria were recently housed in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London. On November 28, six museum items were presented to Nigerian officials, including a brass plaque of Oba Orhogbua and an ivory staff of office with a sculpted relief statue of an Oba (king) (about 1550-1578).
We explore the many ways that artists have been able to inspire each other’s art styles with or without being aware. In this article, the focus was on collage and the difference in the themes explored by old and young contemporary artists.
We spotlighted three contemporary African portrait artists from different countries in Africa. On this list, we have Zanele Muholi, Amaoko Baofo and Njideka Akunyili-Crosby, with a focus on their works and their achievements as portrait artists.
South African visual artist, Lady Skollie won the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards 2022 for visual arts as announced on December 1, 2022. Established in 1981 to celebrate emerging South African artists who live their personal truth through their art and show exceptional talent in their chosen medium, The Standard Bank Young Artist Awards recognised creatives and gave them an opportunity to showcase their work at the National Arts Festival, with substantial financial support provided through Standard Bank.
2022 has been an exciting time in the art space in Africa which is why we made a list of top art fairs to look forward to in 2023. On this list, we have Art X Lagos, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Latitudes Art Fair, FBN Joburg Art Fair and Turbine Art Fair. Some of these art fairs also made our 2022 and we are excited about what their plans for 2023 are.
We spotlighted curators of African heritage in Africa and in the diaspora taking up space and representing the African art scene – artists and artworks from the continent – in galleries, biennales, art fairs, art prizes and auction houses.
We had a conversation with Amoako Boafo on the launch of his new residency space called dot.ateliers. Ghanaian-born, Boafo shared that his goal for dot.ateliers is to create space for artists to focus on developing their visual language and narrative without worrying about sales in the space. They will focus on paintings and drawings while providing curatorial support from writers and curators in residency. Zandile Tshabalala, Clotilde Jiménez, M. Florine Démoshthéne, Crystal Yayra Anthony and Dzidefo Amegatsey are the five chosen artists that will kickstart the residence program’s inaugural year in 2023.
The New Museum will host a significant solo exhibition of the works of Wangechi Mutu, a contemporary Kenyan artist known for her work conflating gender, race, art history, and personal identity. The exhibition will include more than 100 pieces spanning her 25-year career. This exhibition “Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined”, curated by Norton, Allen, Lola Goldring and Vivian Crockett, will run from March 2 – June 4, 2023
