1:54 Debuts in Marrakech

From February 24 to 25, 2018 at La Mamounia, Morocco, the 2018 Marrakech edition of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair will welcome leading galleries from Africa and around the world.

In 2013, Touria El Glaoui initiated 1:54 to promote increased visibility and appreciation for artists from Africa and her diaspora. A reference to the fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent, the title of 1:54 establishes the parameters of the fair’s ethos as a platform that strives to represent the multiplicity and showcase the diversity of contemporary African art and cultural production on an international stage.

Now in its fifth year, the fair is over three times the size of its inaugural edition, an evolution that is a testament to African art’s growing cachet.In 2016, it evolved from occupying just a small wing of Somerset House in London, to filling up the entire building and spilling into the courtyard, with a site-specific installation of 40 sculptural figures by London and Trinidad – based sculptor Zak Ové.

This new Marrakech edition thus builds on the global activity and network 1:54 has cultivated through the London and New York fairs since 2013 and 2015 respectively. Supplemented by a thematic programme of talks and events in partnership with local institutions, 1:54 Marrakech 2018 aims to broaden the reach of the fair and further diversify its purview of exhibiting and promoting galleries and artists that are connected to Africa and her global diasporas.