Lecture
Contemporary Visual Art of the African Continent – A New Cultural Phenomenon
El Anatsui, Rain Has No Father? (2008),
flattened bottle tops
Saturday, 25 April 2026, at 3 p.m.
Aneta Pawłowska (University of Łódź, Poland)
Organized with the support of the Polish Institute in Belgrade
Over the past three decades contemporary visual art from the African continent has become increasingly visible within the global art world. Artists working in Africa and within the African diaspora now regularly participate in major international exhibitions, biennials and museum collections. This growing visibility is closely connected with the processes of globalization, the expansion of the international art market and what some scholars describe as the curatorial turn, which has brought new voices - often of African origin - into the field of exhibition-making and art historical interpretation. The lecture will discuss selected artistic practices that illustrate the diversity of contemporary African art. Particular attention will be devoted to the role of photography as a powerful medium of social reflection and political commentary. The works of photographers such as Santu Mofokeng, who explored the complex visual memory of apartheid South Africa, and Zanele Muholi, whose photographic activism focuses on the visibility and dignity of the Black LGBTQ+ community, demonstrate how contemporary African photography engages with issues of identity, memory, and social justice.
Another important dimension of this phenomenon is the growing presence of African artists in international exhibition platforms. Since the 1990s African artists have been regularly represented at events such as Documenta in Kassel, the Venice Biennale, and numerous thematic exhibitions devoted to contemporary African art. Parallel initiatives on the continent—such as the Dak’Art Biennale in Senegal or the Rencontres de Bamako photography biennale—have created important spaces for artistic exchange and critical debate. At the same time the global market for modern and contemporary African art has expanded significantly. Auction houses and galleries report a growing interest in African artists among collectors from Europe, North America, the Middle East and increasingly from Africa itself. The rising market visibility of artists such as El Anatsui, William Kentridge or Yinka Shonibare reflects broader transformations in the global circulation of artworks and cultural narratives.
By analysing these artistic practices and institutional contexts, the lecture will argue that contemporary African art should not be understood as a single stylistic category but rather as a dynamic and heterogeneous field of artistic production that reflects complex cultural, political and historical processes shaping the African continent today.
The lecture will be held in English.
Entrance: free
Prof. Aneta Pawłowska is an art historian and Professor at the University of Lodz (Poland), where she serves as Director of the Institute of Art History.
Her research focuses on African art and culture, contemporary art, and the history and theory of collections.
She is particularly interested in the role of museums and exhibitions in shaping narratives about non-European art, as well as in issues of cultural representation and identity.
In recent years her work has also addressed accessibility in museums, including the development of audiodescription for people with visual impairments.
She is the author of several books and numerous scholarly articles on African art and modern visual culture.
