ART AFRICA reports that Steve McQueen’s 66–76–26 at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao places two unaccompanied recordings of Wild Is the Wind in dialogue. Nina Simone’s 1966 performance and David Bowie’s 1976 version are heard from opposite ends of a darkened room. Curated by Lekha Hileman, the installation shifts attention from images to listening, memory and emotional expression. The exhibition continues until 21 February 2027.
ART AFRICA·
Chau Chak Wing Museum, Sydney, photographed in 2021. The image shows the museum, not Victor Ehikhamenor’s exhibition.Nick-D · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped
Victor Ehikhamenor’s first Australian solo exhibition brings questions of displacement and cultural memory to the Chau Chak Wing Museum. ART AFRICA reports that the Nigerian artist connects communities in Sydney, Cairo and Port Harcourt, while a partnership with Blacktown Arts includes mentoring for African and African-descended creatives.
Swaline Mkhonto and Zovuyo Pendu’s Site Forming brings together printmaking, installation and figurative painting at Johannesburg’s Bag Factory Artists’ Studios. ART AFRICA describes the exhibition as the culmination of their 2025/2026 Young Womxn Studio Bursary. Mkhonto explores bodily memory and fragmented space, while Pendu examines faith and the unconscious. The presentation includes curatorial input from Penina Chalumbira and collaboration with members of the Letsema collective.
ART AFRICA reports on Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople and the Pursuit of Independence at Charleston’s Gibbes Museum of Art. Bringing together more than 30 objects, the exhibition examines how free and enslaved Black makers used their skills to negotiate identity and agency. Organised with the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive, the presentation spans furniture, ceramics, textiles and other material traditions, with announced dates of 16 October 2026 to 9 May 2027.
Mozambican artist Euridice Zaituna Kala’s Daylighting: aber es ist Wasser, das spricht at Kunsthalle Münster examines how colonial archives shape remembrance and erase experiences. ART AFRICA describes installations, performances, paintings, objects and books engaging with representations of Black bodies and the power to record history. Curated by Merle Radtke, the Münster presentation adds new works to an exhibition previously shown in Rennes and Brussels.
Senegal’s National Gallery has brought works by recent Salon national des arts visuels laureates to Louga’s Mademba Diop regional cultural centre. Running through October 21, the touring exhibition is paired with training in portfolios, digital tools and art-market access, extending the institution’s programme beyond Dakar and supporting artists working in the regions.
Congolese painter Meshack Kadima says the public’s continuing engagement with his work matters more to him than trophies. In an ACP interview following his recognition at the Mwinda Awards, he credited supporters who share his paintings and follow his practice. Kadima also described everyday concerns as central to his work, explaining that he wants his paintings to connect with the lives of his audience.
ACP examined an untitled acrylic painting by Congolese artist Misoko Ngusu through the observations of critic John Bongenya. He read the central female figure, blue setting, vegetation and birds as connections between femininity, nature and spirituality. The report focuses on how colour, texture and symbolism shape his interpretation of the work, without identifying a new exhibition or a creation date.
Folasade Ologundudu discusses how Nigerian modernist publications and contemporary art can reshape the histories we inherit. Her 1-54 London project combined an exhibition with critical writing labs, inviting participants to contribute to a living archive. The interview makes a case for sustained support for African criticism, publishing and research, rather than visibility alone.
The 16th Dakar Biennale will take place from 19 November to 19 December 2026, with Morad Montazami as artistic director. An official announcement from Biennale de Dakar, dated 24 September 2026 and posted on 13 October, details 75 artistic proposals: 54 for the international exhibition and 21 for the design section. The theme, “(Anti)fragility,” explores repair, care and responses to disruption. Faouzi Laatiris is the Grand Témoin, alongside a Carte blanche for Serigne Mbaye Camara.
Biennale de Dakar has named artist Amadou Kane Sy as curator of Senegal’s pavilion, titled Re-enchanting the World. According to the organiser, the presentation will bring together varied forms of contemporary Senegalese artistic practice, connecting artists’ local contexts with international cultural exchange. The announcement outlines the pavilion’s curatorial purpose but does not identify participating artists or specify exhibition dates.
Marta Lança revisits Sara CF de Gouveia’s documentary The Sound of Masks through the performances of Mozambican Mapiko dancer Atanásio Cosme Nyusi. Her BUALA essay considers how choreography, masking and storytelling carry memories that official archives miss, while questioning how cinema represents cultural inheritance and its transmission between generations without freezing a living practice.
Biennale de Dakar has included Laila Gohar in its design selection, identifying her with Egypt and the United States. Its artist profile describes a New York-based practice combining food, design and performance, with edible materials shaped into sculptural compositions. The organiser connects her work to sensory experience, memory and cultural exchange, without specifying the work she will present in Dakar.
Biennale de Dakar has announced Trajectories and Heritage, an exhibition of Senegal’s state art collection curated by Kalidou Kassé. The organiser says the presentation examines the country’s visual-art history through major institutional acquisitions. It is being developed by the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, the biennale’s general secretariat and the National Art Gallery. The announcement does not provide an exhibition timetable.
Biennale de Dakar has announced the Democratic Republic of the Congo as guest country of honour for its 16th edition, with artist Steve Bandoma curating its presentation. The organiser places the Congolese pavilion alongside its international exhibition and design section. Its national-pavilion programme gives participating countries space to present their contemporary art scenes through their own curatorial choices.
Africans Column’s guide to 1-54 London selected 20 women artists across generations, including Bertina Lopes, Baya, Esther Mahlangu, Thandiwe Muriu and Theresah Ankomah. Its account connected painting, photography, ceramics and textiles with questions of cultural memory and representation, while discussing the fair’s African Modernism spotlight. Published ahead of the 15–18 October fair at Somerset House, the selection reflected the announced programme rather than a definitive ranking or a post-event assessment.
During an ACP gallery visit, Congolese artist Serge Homboyoka Kadima, known as Makadi, discussed Malamba, a painting drawing on the ritual dancer of the same name in Bashilele culture. The artist described the figure’s ancestral significance and the costumes associated with its performance. His broader practice combines painting, recovered materials and textile sculpture to revisit the community’s mythic and ritual imagery.
APS’s cultural calendar places Dak’Art’s sixteenth edition from 19 November to 19 December, with the former Palais de Justice hosting its international exhibition and national pavilions. The agency also lists a Saint-Louis cinema and photography salon for 26–28 November and the inauguration of Musée Griot-tes in Tambacounda on 3–5 December, including a group exhibition and discussions. Together, the planned events extend the visual-art programme beyond Dakar.
Writing in ArtReview, Alexander Harding examines Lyndon Barrois Jr.’s Desert of Promise at Alma Pearl in London. Paintings, collages and sculptural arrangements draw on National Geographic and film references to question the authority of images and systems of classification. Harding finds the work most effective when its material juxtapositions communicate directly, rather than depend on extensive explanation. The exhibition runs through 24 October.
An exhibition at Dakar’s Museum of Black Civilisations revealed visual-art practices among Senegalese police officers during the first Police culturelle event. APS describes photographs by Ousseynou Faye, paintings and collage, an electronic-waste installation by Dieylani, and Betty Tendeng’s reused-straw picture frames. The presentation formed part of a broader programme also including music and sport.
