A continent. A diaspora.
A conversation.
OPENING THE JOURNAL
Loading content…Art leaves a record. Return to the exhibitions, artists and ideas that continue to shape the conversation.
Browse by the original source publication date. Historical selections are reviewed and added over time; coverage is not exhaustive.
Browse daily editionsNancy Dantas discusses West Wind, an exhibition bringing African modernists into conversation across national borders. Works by artists including Kofi Antubam, Gerard Sekoto, Bertina Lopes and Baya frame an exploration of independence, migration and cultural exchange. Her interview emphasises archival research and the relationships that complicate a single, linear account of African art history.
APS highlighted photographer Ina Thiam’s exhibition En mouvement, en lumière at the Institut français de Dakar ahead of the Youth Olympic Games. Its short accompanying report describes a focus on Senegalese women athletes, photographed in several cities. The presentation places women’s participation in sport at the centre of a public photographic display.
MAP reporting published by Madar21 described Mohamed El Jamaati’s solo exhibition À travers la fenêtre at Kent Gallery in Tangier. Watercolours and acrylic paintings draw on Tétouan’s buildings, balconies and windows, bringing new works together with paintings from the 1980s and 1990s. El Jamaati discussed making charcoal lines, canvas structure and colour transitions visible as part of his continuing experimentation. The exhibition was scheduled to run until 9 November.
Tajudeen Sowole reviewed Christianah Anuoluwapo Apanisile’s textile-based mixed-media work in African Arts with Taj. Focusing on Stories Beneath the Old Tree and Lessons by the Fire, he explored how drawing and fabric convey exchanges of knowledge between generations. The review praised her handling of figures and restrained colour while questioning the scale of elements in one composition.
An illustrated environmental education book by Gaëlle Mabanza brings artist Lepa Mabila Saye’s work into a project about relations between people and wildlife. Culture Congo reports that a mock-up of Dispute interminable was presented to the Congolese conservation institute on October 2. Publication is planned for March 2027, with the project intended for educational use.
Congolese artist Cédrick Sungo is preparing a five-sculpture installation for the inaugural Festival International de Sculpture de Cotonou, scheduled for October 26–30. Working with assembled wire and cut metal, he explores relations between people and their environment. Culture Congo places his contribution within the festival’s “Retour aux sources” theme and a four-artist delegation from the DRC.
Culture Congo profiles Kinshasa photographer Nathanael Milambo, whose work follows people, sport and cultural life across the city. He describes photography as a way to preserve memories and make overlooked stories visible. The profile also records his recognition for aesthetic expression and photography at the Mwinda Awards, held in Kinshasa on October 3.
Writing for BUALA, Sumaila Jaló reads Sana Na N’Hada’s film Nome as a reflection on Guinea-Bissau’s liberation struggle and the disappointments that followed independence. His review traces how characters’ shared names express solidarity before power divides them. It praises the film’s engagement with collective memory while distinguishing political ideals from their later betrayal.
In an interview with ACP, Aïcha Muteba announced Rencontre, an exhibition of around twenty previously unseen works scheduled to open in Kinshasa on 20 October. The painter presented the event as a return to audiences and collectors at home, inviting them to explore the messages within a vivid, semi-abstract practice concerned with Congolese society. Muteba’s wider work also encompasses street performance and installation.
ACP reported that Congolese painter Samuel Mbombo Ilunga presented Art Brings People Together at an autumn festival in Fort Worth, Texas. Cultural organiser Rosalie Ilunga described how participants’ signatures around the composition made the painting a collective undertaking. Its central rooted cross connects themes of faith, cultural inheritance and belonging. The report situated Mbombo’s work within efforts to use art as a meeting place across cultures and generations.
In an Art Report Africa interview, Frank Coffie explained how stitching damaged paintings developed into a practice combining yarn, found fabric and paint. Discussing his first solo exhibition in Ghana at WorldFaze, Accra, he connected reused tailoring offcuts, patterned figures and tapestries with family memory and everyday experience. His account described materials as active carriers of personal stories rather than decorative additions to painting.
Biennale de Dakar has published a retrospective of the launch of its 16th edition at the Museum of Black Civilisations. According to the organiser, the ceremony on 24 September brought together artists, cultural professionals, institutions, partners and media. The post connects that gathering to the 2026 edition’s exploration of fragility, repair and responses to disruption. It documents a past launch rather than announcing an upcoming opening.
Biennale de Dakar has published an individual accreditation form for people seeking access to openings, previews and other restricted activities during its 2026 edition. The organiser says applications will be reviewed and submission does not guarantee accreditation. Some events and limited-capacity areas may require separate permission. People already registered through the official programme or internal teams are directed not to use the public form.
Elgin Rust turns photographs of architecture in Ghana, Cairo, Dubai and Cape Town into speculative floating structures in Sky Cities: Futures in Flux. At the AVA Gallery, digital manipulation meets cyanotype printing, bringing environmental uncertainty and material change into view. The exhibition pairs her visual work with an independent sound piece, Umoya.
Speaking to ACP in his studio, JP Mika revisited Le Triomphant, his painting honouring Chéri Samba’s artistic journey. The composition places a younger, monochrome Samba beside his mature counterpart in colour, with curator André Magnin connecting the two. Mika described the work as a reflection on perseverance, memory and intergenerational recognition. He also explained how precise details and the shift in colour contribute to its narrative, eleven years after its creation.
A profile of Ghanaian artist and educator kąrî’kạchä seid’ou traces the experimental teaching that helped reshape contemporary art in Kumasi. Following his selection for the 2026 Prince Claus Impact Award, the article examines KNUST’s Emancipatory Art Teaching Project, blaxTARLINES and a collaborative philosophy that places shared knowledge and institutional change above individual visibility.
The Institut français de Kinshasa announced an exhibition of Chéri Chérin’s paintings to mark a year since his death. Reporting on October 6, ACP gave dates of October 22–November 21 for the presentation. The selection was intended to revisit the Congolese painter’s observations of society and his contribution to popular painting, rather than introduce a newly produced body of work.
ACP reported on Kakibaruki, a photographic exhibition in Lubumbashi exploring African hairstyles as carriers of identity and memory. Ruth Mpombo connected the project to childhood experiences of school-imposed hairstyles and to the transmission of cultural knowledge. Fellow photographer Chris Mizangi described portraits pairing dreadlocks with knitted plant forms, examining how people inherit, reshape and carry their roots.