With Frieze London just over a month away, Christie's has launched a new charitable initiative in collaboration with the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Nigeria. The auction house will sell works donated by leading contemporary artists at its auctions to benefit the museum.
The agreement came together so quickly that only a partial list of contributing artists is available to date, and the works are still being created. But it's already an impressive list: Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Victor Ehikhamenor, Lakwena Maciver, Yinka Shonibare and Kehinde Wiley are among the artists who have already promised work.
Proceeds from the sale of the works will go towards MOWAA initiatives, including the presentation of the Nigerian Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale and the museum's 20-hectare creative district, which includes the Rainforest Gallery to showcase art from all time. It was designed by Dakar-based architecture firm Worofila.
“We are so honored that leading artists understand the importance of MOWAA,” Aindrea Emelife, the museum’s curator of modern and contemporary art, told Artnet News.
“This will directly benefit key parts of our mission and creative initiatives, providing infrastructure and programming to support contemporary creatives and cultural heritage experts in West Africa,” he added. “This is not just an opportunity for Africa, but for the world.”
Emelife is also curating the Nigerian pavilion for next year's biennale, which will eventually travel back to MOWAA. This is not the first time that Emelife has joined Christie's. Several years ago, she helped organize a highly successful private exhibition during Frieze London entitled “Bold Black British”, which brought together work by black British artists from the 1980s to the present day.
Isabel Bardawil, a specialist in post-war and contemporary art at Christie's in London, told Artnet News that the conversation came up shortly after Emelife was appointed to MOWAA as a curator. “We also knew she would be involved in the Venice pavilion, so we talked about how Christie's could support and get involved,” Bardawil said. “The conversation turned to a fundraising auction and it happened quickly.”
“Contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora has been a seminal element of our Frieze week programming since 2020,” said Bardawil. This includes the auction house's ongoing relationship with the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, now in its fourth year, and the 2022 introduction of the Sina Jina Collection, the largest collection of contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora ever sold in auction.
Source: Artnet News