Latitudes is an alternative fair for contemporary art from Africa designed to nurture exchange between artists, galleries, collectors, curators and researchers throughout Africa and the diasporas.

Launching in September 2019, and coinciding with the established FNB Art Joburg, LATITUDES will bring together a curated selection of galleries, independent platforms, artisanal studios, and artists from the African continent and diasporas. Developed in close conversation with several African galleries, the fair sets out to serve the diverse needs in the contemporary art sector throughout the Majority World.

According to the founding team, “By African, we mean anyone who has a meaningful connection to Africa and the diaspora, and by international, we mean the endless permutations of trans-geographic relationships – not the reinforcement of values entrenched in European and American economic centres.”

A new approach

Bringing together a curated selection of galleries, artists and independent spaces, LATITUDES offers a platform for the diverse art economies of the majority world.

Co-founded by Lucy MacGarry(curator of The South African Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale and former Curator of the FNB Joburg Art Fair), Makgati Molebatsi (board member of the Bag Factory Artists Studios in Johannesburg, mentorship provider within the visual arts sector and within the Business and Art South Africa (BASA) mentorship programme), Anthea Kemp (former director of Hordaland Kunstsenter, a leading contemporary art institution in Bergen, Norway, and prior to that was a PhD fellow in the Art History department at Columbia University in New York), Roberta Coci (former curator of large-scale events such as the Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair and the Winter Sculpture Fair), and Nokwazi Zimu (published academic author and holds an MA in Media Studies as well as an BA Honours degree), the fair takes a lateral and flexible approach to mediating and selling art, in which artists, galleries, independent curators, online entities, and institutions are regarded as equally viable applicants.

“We are living in a fast, challenging and globalized world. This context demands new strategies for making the art business attractive and more plural. As an emergent gallery from Angola, our expectations are related to our representativeness in an international context. We are excited to be part of this first edition of LATITUDES Art Fair and to work with their amazing team to create a richer, global understanding of African cultural production.”

This Is Not A White Cube Director, Sonia Ribeiro from Angola

The LATITUDES Committee is comprised of experts in the field. In the interests of impartiality, no gallerists are invited to the committee. Exhibitors are selected according to qualitative and conceptional criteria. The fair will take place on Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg, Sep 13, 14, 15 2019.

According to co-founder and Director of Business Development, Makgati Molebatsi, “The vision for the fair was articulated by five women working in the South African art scene. But the hope – which is really the backbone of this initiative – belongs to artists, curators, collectors, and art lovers who have felt for some time that the art market as it exists today does not yet have a place for them.”

24 exhibitors announced for the first edition

The fair will be welcoming 24 exhibitors from 9 different countries.

• Afriart Gallery, Uganda
• ARTCO, Germany
• Arte de Gema, Mozambique
• Artfundi, South Africa
• Artist Proof Studio, South Africa
• Centre for the Less Good Idea, South Africa 
• Dale Sargent Fine Art, South Africa
• David Krut Projects, South Africa 
• EBONY/CURATED, South Africa
• Emerging Painting Invitational Prize, Zimbabwe 
• First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe
• Gallery Tiny, USA
• Guns & Rain, South Africa
• Kalashnikovv Gallery, South Africa
• KZNSA Gallery, South Africa
• LL Editions, South Africa
• Strauss & Co, South Africa
• Suburbia Gallery,  Spain
• The Artists’ Press, South Africa
• The Melrose Gallery, South Africa
• This Is Not a White Cube, Angola
• TMRW Gallery, South Africa
• Warren Siebrits, South Africa
• Weekend Server, Norway

Curated programming

Essay

Each year the fair will present a focus section featuring the work of one established and one emerging artist. ESSAY is geared towards rarely-seen work by artists beginning their careers and overlooked masters.

Independant

Independent is a curated exhibition of early career artists with no gallery representation. The objective of the annual exhibition is to introduce the works of unrepresented artists to galleries participating in LATITUDES. This section is by invitation, there are no costs to participate and LATITUDES takes no commission from the sale of artworks.

Spotlight

Spotlight is a curated selection of artists from Africa and the diasporas whose work is unknown or underrepresented outside of the regional contexts in which they or their galleries operate. Each artist is presented through a concise feature showcasing 3 works. Curatorially, the Spotlight section allows a conversation between different artistic practices while giving due spatial specificity to each installation. Practically, this platform allows African galleries to explore relationships with the South African market without taking on the financial risk of a full exhibition stand at LATITUDES Art Fair.

Latitudes LTD

In collaboration with David Krut Projects and their VIP partner Daytona, LATITUDES commissioned five artists to create unique small-edition silkscreen prints that will be available for purchase with a LATITUDES VIP LTD access package. These prints will form the basis of designs for skins for five Aston Martins that will be on display in proximity to the fair. VIP LTD Tickets (including a limited edition print) are available at R4000 each. Contact info@latitudesartfair.com to reserve yours.

Emerging Painting Invitantional Prize (EPI)

LATITUDES announced an annual solo exhibition by the winner of EPI in partnership with the Emerging African Art Galleries Association to support and recognise emerging painters living and working on the continent. The winner of the inaugural EPI is Mozambican artist Nelly Guambe.

Auction

In collaboration with the VIP partner Strauss & Co, LATITUDES will host the preview of Strauss & Co’s September contemporary art auction. Bidding will be available online. Proceeds of the auction will be donated to charity.

Latitudes Art Fair
13, 14, 15 September,2019.
First edition
Nelson Mandela Square, cnr Maude & 5th Streets, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa

Friday 11am-9pm
Saturday 10am-6pm
Sunday 10am-5pm
TICKETS
Book online here.

For more information please contact info@latitudesartfair.com

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Engaging in issues of water scarcity and ecological emergency, artist/photographer Aida Muluneh presents, with support from the H&M Foundation, a new series of 12 work commissioned by Wateraid. Exploring ideas of representation , gender and social justice through an Afrofuturist tableaux of twelve, large-scale images shot in Ethiopia, the powerful work builds on Somerset House’s ongoing strand of environmental themed programming.

The project emerged from a dialogue about the role of art in advocacy, the issues of water and sanitation and how Africa is represented by aid organizations and in global media.This autumnal exhibition follows a previous show “Water Life” that is actually displaying  at David Krut Projects‘s space in New York until June 14th 2019. Half of all gallery sales will benefit WaterAid.

“My main goal in building this collection is to address the issues caused by a lack of access to water, and the impact which that has not only on a society as a whole, but on women, particularly in rural regions. For those of us who live in cities, it’s easy to take for granted the privilege of access to water – while those living beyond the city grid often encounter challenges that not only impact their health, but also their ability to contribute to the development of their communities.

Each piece addresses the impact of water access as it relates to issues like women’s liberation, health, sanitation and education. While travelling across Ethiopia for my work, I often encounter streams of women traveling on foot and carrying heavy burdens of water. I have understood that women spend a great deal of time fetching water for the household, which has an adverse effect on the progress of women in our society. We cannot refute that it is mainly women who bear responsibility for collecting water, a burden that has great consequences for our future and the development of our nation.

Hence, supporting access to water in rural regions in Africa is an urgent social issue, as well as an essential determining factor in the self-sustainability of a community. I have chosen to create a few of these pieces in Dallol, Afar, Ethiopia – an extreme landscape that places emphasis on the message I am transmitting. The world is continually bombarded with images of the social plight of Africa; therefore my focus in this project was to address these topics without the cliché that we see in mainstream media. In a sense, to advocate through art.” – Aida Muluneh, Addis Ababa

Somerset House
WATER LIFE BY AIDA MULUNEH
24 September – 20 October 2019
Great Arch Hall, South Wing, Free
Sponsored by H&M Foundation

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