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The African Art Book Fair is returning to Dakar from 16 to 19 May 2024

Scheduled as part of the OFF programme of the now postponed Dakar Biennale, the African Art Book Fair (AABF) is part of several major events maintained by Dakar-based and international independent art spaces and initiatives.

The African Art Book Fair is a platform for debate and encounter with professionals in the field of art publishing and critical production from Africa and the diaspora. It highlights new and innovative publishing practices, as well as the ‘physicality’ of the book as a medium.

The fair comprises a selection of publishers at the intersection of art, photography, design, experimental music, open culture, and activism. It also includes exhibition displays, talks, and performances.

This 5^th edition, marking the African Art Book Fair’s 10^th anniversary, will focus on exchanges between the North and the Global South, and the circulation of knowledge in view of providing a better contextual framework to African arts and intellectual production. Publications are also approached both as a curatorial and artistic practice, and as a medium to appraise of the current state of art criticism.

Programme highlights include:

Thursday 16 May 1.00 – 2.00 pm: ‘Genealogy of feminist voices’, roundtable with Chiara Figone (Founder, Archive Books, Berlin), Coumba Touré (Writer and Activist), Mame-Fatou Niang (Director, Center for Black European Studies and the Atlantic, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg), Christine Eyene (Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University and Research Curator, Tate Liverpool).

Saturday 18 May 2.00 – 3.00 pm: ‘A dialogue on monographs with institutions’ roundtable with Delphine Lopez (Director, Galerie Cécile Fakhoury, Dakar), Storm Janse van Rensburg (Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs, Zeitz Mocaa, Cape Town), Manuela Moscoso (Director, CARA, New York), and Chiara Figone. Moderator: Christine Eyene.

Eyene will also propose a small display entitled ‘George Hallett: image, text, sound’, a series of enlarged book covers created by South African photographer George Hallett (1942-2020), from the African Writers Series published by Heinemann in the 1970s and 1980s. Portraits of South African musicians Johnny Dyani, Chris McGregor, Hugh Masekela, Louis Moholo or Dudu Pukwana; performances at the Langa Jazz Festival in Cape Town or at the legendary 100 Club in London; abstract and theatrical visual compositions: the images brought together reveal a compelling dialogue between photography, literature, and jazz music.

AFRICAN ART BOOK FAIR

16 -19 May 2024, 10.00 am -7.00 pm

Launch event: Friday 17 May from 5.30 pm, cocktail and live event.

Closing performance: Sunday 19 May from 5.30 pm.

Place du Souvenir

Corniche Ouest

Dakar

For more information, visit AABF’s website.