ACP (ND) reports that Henry Bundjoko has called for scientific testing of traditional Congolese materials used in conserving cultural objects. Speaking at Kinshasa’s Académie des beaux-arts, the professor described a catalogue of thirteen local plants and materials and proposed fieldwork with artisans. He stressed that laboratory research must establish toxicity, compatibility and reversibility before wider use. His proposal connects conservation training with local knowledge, rather than treating traditional recipes as proven restoration methods.
ACP (S. A.) reports that Eddy Ekete is bringing recycled materials into digital art at Kinshasa’s Institut français. Matisa Numérique: KINiarof, announced for 5–7 November at the Petite Halle, combines electronics and performance with interactive games, including screen-linked hopscotch. Ekete describes a collaborative workshop process involving local artists and participants from France. The project extends his practice of transforming discarded objects into artistic material.
ART AFRICA reports that ART X Lagos’s eleventh edition brings Nigerian artistic histories into conversation with contemporary practice. At Federal Palace, Ladi Kwali: Beyond the Vessel combines ceramics and archival material, while Ndidi Dike’s installation explores displacement and collective memory. The 5–8 November fair also presents galleries from Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Britain, alongside Yinka Bernie’s sound-and-image project. Public visiting days are 7–8 November, according to the organiser.
Writing in BUALA, Marta Lança explores how visual artist and performer Mussunda N’zombo’s work informs Paulo Idalécio’s 2025 short film Sabes Quem Eu Sou?. The review connects his screen character to A Metamorfose, a 2018 performance, and to his use of costume, gesture and alter egos. Through a fictional man whose authority is no longer recognised in Luanda, the film extends that artistic investigation into identity and the performance of power.
BUALA·
Eko Atlantic waterfront, Lagos, 19 September 2026. Contextual location image, not the Biennial exhibition. Photo: FrankvEck / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.FrankvEck · CC BY-SA 4.0
ArtReview’s November exhibition guide highlights the Lagos Biennial alongside presentations by Salah Elmur in Dubai and Atong Atem in Melbourne. The Lagos edition, running 14 November–6 December, brings together 18 artists and collectives and launches a permanent pavilion for the Àkéte Collection. Elmur’s survey connects painting with family photographs and Sudanese modernism, while Atem’s presentation explores African studio portraiture, family memory and Dinka cultural traditions across more than 65 works.
Congolese painter JP Mika discusses human–animal coexistence through Baninga ya ba Bonobo in an ACP studio report from Kinshasa. He describes the painting’s gestures, figures, fruit and vegetation as an invitation to respect other species and protect the Democratic Republic of Congo’s natural heritage. Rather than depicting destruction alone, Mika presents a joyful shared environment, using the composition to encourage awareness of forest conservation and the protection of bonobos.
APS profiles the visual design behind Dakar 2026’s opening ceremony, highlighting scenographer Khady Kassé’s arrangement of space, set elements and an urban environment within the stadium. Trained in civil engineering, interior architecture and scenography, Kassé previously designed national pavilions and exhibition spaces for Dak’Art 2024. The report also recognises Marième Ngom’s coordination of costume, makeup and hair teams, showing how different design practices contributed to the ceremony’s visual presentation.
Agence de Presse Sénégalaise·
Iman Issa at MACBA, Barcelona, 2012. Photo: Kippelboy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Archival portrait, not the 2027 project.Kippelboy · CC BY-SA 3.0
Nolan Oswald Dennis, Kapwani Kiwanga and Iman Issa are among 13 newly announced artists and collectives developing site-specific commissions for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2027, ArtReview reports. Led by the curatorial collective What, How & for Whom, the sixth edition runs from 13 June to 3 October 2027. The announcement expands an international programme focused on encounters with art in public space, following an initial group of participating artists named in June.
ArtReview·
Figuig oasis, Morocco, 20 July 2006. Archival contextual location image, not a photograph of the 2026 festival. Photo: Inkey / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.Inkey · CC BY-SA 3.0
Visual-art and traditional-craft exhibitions will feature in the nineteenth Oasis Cultures Festival in Figuig, Morocco, from 5 to 7 November, according to a MAP report published by Madar21. Organised by the culture ministry, the programme draws on work from Figuig and neighbouring oases, alongside youth workshops and discussions of architectural and environmental heritage. The announcement does not provide individual exhibition venues or visiting hours.
Public voting has opened for the Jidar Grand Prix in Rabat, Madar21 reports from an organizers’ statement. Audiences can choose among fourteen murals created by fifteen artists during the 2026 street-art festival, with voting running through November 30. The winning artist will receive a Rabat residency and exhibition. The previous winner, Yankamanta, is due to begin a residency this month.
Designer Bouchra El Bouhsini presented Moroccan caftans during Morocco Week in Jakarta, Madar21 reports through MAP. The collection highlighted detailed embroidery, ornament and coordinated color, combining contemporary cuts with traditional craft practices. In the report, El Bouhsini describes the garment as an expression of cultural memory and identity, and discusses how new designs can evolve while maintaining their connection to Moroccan artisanship.
CCA Lagos and Third Space Art Foundation have announced a November 7 panel examining how performance can challenge colonial archives and recover marginalized histories. Part of 1922 Revisited, the discussion will take Jelili Atiku’s artistic work as a starting point. Participants include Atiku, Taiwo Aiyedogbon, Tolulope Ami-Williams, Akin Oladimeji and Jumoke Sanwo, with Oyindamola Faithful moderating. The event is scheduled at CCA Lagos from 10:30am to 12:15pm.
APS profiles Maguette Guèye, Khadija Aisha Ba and Selly Raby Kane, who designed costumes for the three sections of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic opening ceremony. Their practices draw on Senegalese textiles, adornment and cultural references. The report highlights Guèye’s fabric and ornament work, Ba’s handmade accessories and historically inspired clothing, and Kane’s distinctive fashion and filmmaking practice.
A workshop at Kinshasa’s Centre culturel congolais Le Zoo brought visual artists together with musicians, performers, writers and fashion practitioners to discuss declaring and protecting their work, ACP reports. Opened on October 29, the initiative was organized by ACOM and Le Zoo with FASAEC and FOSCA. According to the account supplied to ACP, discussions covered practical and legal tools for responding to unauthorized copying and digital distribution.
Congolese photojournalist Jonathan Kamunga received the Chrysostome-Kyungu prize at the third Best View Awards in Lubumbashi on October 31, ACP reports, citing the recipient. The award recognizes his photography career and honors a figure associated with documenting successive governors of Grand Katanga. Kamunga dedicated the recognition to fellow Congolese photojournalists and acknowledged mentors who supported his development.
Alain Kyembe is planning a portrait-led tribute to overlooked community figures in Lubumbashi, according to ACP. The artist, who works as Alain Art, will use commemorative pictures to remember people who have died and give the works to their families. The Tufurahi ceremony is scheduled for 27 November at Pullman Grand Karavia, bringing his drawing practice into a wider initiative honouring local contributions.
Art Report Africa’s Lagos Art Week guide looks beyond the fair to exhibitions across the city. Shalom Esene highlights Mobolaji Ogunrosoye’s photographic collages at O’DA Art and Tonia Nneji’s paintings at Rele, two presentations examining women’s experiences and representation. Ogunrosoye builds portraits through conversations and layered imagery, while Nneji draws on the changing daily life of Goriola Street in Ajegunle. Both exhibitions continue until 28 November.
Remi Ajani and Hamed Maiye’s Call and Response is on view at Alára in Lagos through November 29, Art Report Africa reports. Their paintings explore inherited stories, personal memory and belonging through Yoruba philosophy, archival images and family photographs. An accompanying artist-conceived book expands the conversation across Nigerian cultural generations, with a London launch planned for November 17.
Art Report Africa·
Fridericianum, Kassel, 14 November 2023. Contextual venue photograph, not a Documenta 16 exhibition view. Photo: ГП / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).ГП · CC BY-SA 4.0
British-Ghanaian curator Osei Bonsu has been named a curatorial advisor to Documenta 16, ArtReview reports. He joins Timea Junghaus and Noam Segal in advisory roles, while artist and composer Raven Chacon becomes curator-at-large. The appointments expand the team led by artistic director Naomi Beckwith, alongside the core curators announced previously. The exhibition is scheduled for 12 June to 19 September 2027 in Kassel, Germany.
Congolese curator Henry Bundjoko Banyata has argued that the Institut des musées nationaux du Congo should play a stronger role in civic dialogue and cultural memory, ACP reports. In an interview in Kinshasa, he called for heritage to receive greater political attention and for museums to connect communities with their shared histories. His remarks present a vision for the institution’s public role, rather than an announcement of a new programme.
