Africa Takes Centre Stage at 1-54 London 2025
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ondon’s Somerset House – For four autumn days in mid-October, the grand neoclassical courtyards of Somerset House were abuzz with one of the art season’s most exclusive events: the 13th edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair (16–19 Oct 2025). This flagship fair, long hailed as “a leading voice in the global discussion on contemporary African art”, brought together over 50 galleries from 18 countries, exhibiting more than 100 established and emerging artists from Africa and its diaspora. The sweeping Somerset House venue – with its fountains and grand façade – provided a fittingly dramatic backdrop for this cultural showcase, aligning centuries of British art patronage with the vibrant new voices of Africa.
Habib Hajallie’s The Collector and the Artist (2024) was among the standout works at 1-54 London.
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The piece’s blend of portraiture and text set the tone for a fair that balances history and innovation. With Touria El Glaoui, the fair’s founder, observing that 1-54 is increasingly important to global art, collectors and curators flocked to the VIP preview and subsequent public days. By attracting this kind of focused attention – from Tate Modern shows to new African museums – the fair matters deeply to the world’s cultural patrons and taste-makers.
Galleries and Creative Powerhouses
The diversity of participating galleries underscored 1-54’s global reach. The 2025 roster featured a majority of newcomers from the “Global South,” many based on the African continent. From Kinshasa’s Kub’Art Gallery to London’s Larkin Durey, from Lagos’s Affinity Gallery to Ghana’s Gallery 1957, booths represented Africa’s entire breadth. Nigeria and South Africa commanded particular attention: prominent Lagos spaces (Affinity, O’DA, SOTO, The 1897) and Johannesburg’s Afronova, Eclectica, Guns & Rain and others showed work by stars like Samuel Nnorom, Austin Uzor, Zana Masombuka and Boemo Diale. Alongside these regional champions were diasporic and emerging voices – young artists such as Joël Bigaignon, Zenaéca Singh, Khadija El Abyad and Afeez Onakoya made their mark – ensuring the fair was not only about established names but also the continent’s fresh talents.
Larissa de Souza’s Primeiras Palavras (2024) typified the contemporary work on view.
On display in mixed-media, painting, photography and sculpture, the art ranged from the conceptual to the visually opulent. 20th-century masters shared the hall with newcomers: Tristan Hoare Gallery presented rare prints by Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta, while Loeve&Co highlighted Haiti’s Roland Dorcély.
This interplay of heritage and avant-garde – African art’s masters alongside its rising stars – signals to collectors that 1-54 is the place to discover both investment-grade classics and the next big things.
Luxury Partners and Curated Collaborations
No detail was overlooked in the fair’s luxury framing. High-end partners underscored 1-54’s prestige: the renowned auction house Christie’s returned as partner for its sixth consecutive year, reinforcing the fair’s “strong and dynamic relationship” with the global art market. Parisian fragrance house Infiniment Coty Paris (Coty Inc.) continued its creative partnership, presenting “artcycling” projects that transform perfume packaging into canvases. New this year was Afreximbank – the pan-African finance institution – joining as Lead Partner. Through its Afreximbank Art Programme, the bank is set to spotlight emerging African artists and even launch an Afreximbank Art Prize, cementing a bridge between high finance and cultural patronage. Even lifestyle brands got in on the act: Nando’s co-sponsored a culture project (in partnership with Spier Arts Trust), highlighting craft and design in African heritage.
These collaborations go beyond logos on the walls. They allowed patrons to experience African artistry in new formats – for example, a monumental fountain-court commission turned the fair’s entrance courtyard into a public art installation. Special Projects curated by the fair added depth: initiatives like Art Comes First (melding African craftsmanship with British tailoring), Everyday Lusaka Gallery (reviving Zambia’s photographic legacy) and even a Caribbean Spotlight section gave visitors exclusive narratives to explore. Private tours and VIP talks further gave elite guests insider access to this rich programming, blending the showroom feel of a fair with the intimacy of a salon.
Cultural Resonance
Beyond the transactions and star turns, 1-54 London 2025 delivered a broader statement. For London’s upper echelon, the fair reinforced that African contemporary art is now integral to global culture and luxury. It offered a rare opportunity to acquire works that carry deep social narratives, knowing that even esteemed institutions – from Tate Modern to the new Museum of West African Art – are now validating this scene.
In sum, 1-54 London 2025 proved that African art and high society walk the same red carpet. The fair’s success shows that cultural prestige is not just about heritage, but also about vision: investors and collectors are embracing Africa’s creative renaissance. For global tastemakers and luxury patrons, the 1-54 experience in London will linger as a defining moment – a reminder that the future of art is international, interconnected and richly diverse.
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