Johannesburg art fair shows increasing interest of African buyers

Africa's leading annual art fair, FNB Art Joburg this weekend, is increasingly attracting buyers from across the continent as artists cater less to foreigners in their work, exhibitors said Saturday.

The show, which started in 2008, has 500 works from 100 artists across the continent on display in Johannesburg.

Organisers don't like to talk money, but last year most works sold out fetching prices of up to 20 million rand ($1.1 million, one million euros).

"Our paintings were regarded as primitive back in the day because it was like you only find it in caves," said Zimbabwean painter Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude. His piece 'MCMLXXX' won the fair's top prize.

The title in Roman numerals in 1980, the year of Zimbabwe's independence. The piece plays with local idioms to depict drug use, worries about artificial intelligence, and other intensely modern concerns.

"Our African painting is very esoteric and is very intelligent because we speak about social issues, we speak about things that happen to us and also in an authentic voice," he said.

"It’s not about the decorations and the stuff, and the sun sets, but something real, and something real that affects us on a daily basis."

Exciting development

His work is part of a changing dynamic, where African artists are finding more buyers on the continent as they address more local concerns.

"Definitely there are more Africans starting to collect African art and this is the most exciting development we have," said Valerie Kabov, director of First Floor Gallery Harare, which exhibited Nyaude's work.

"The support of local collectors is really meaningful, as they feel represented by the art and also the work they love and choose is distinctly different to that preferred by non-Zimbabwean collectors," she said.

The art market took a hit last year globally, but a report by London-based analysis firm ArtTactic found that Africa has weathered that turbulence better than most other areas.

Sales of modern and contemporary African art fell by 8.4 percent in 2023, while the broader market fell by 18 percent, it said.

The report did not divulge the value of those sales, but noted the strong presence of African buyers.

At auction house Sotheby's, for example, African buyers accounted for two-thirds of their sales of African art.

"There's a renaissance of sorts on the African continent," said Kampamba Mabuluki of Modiz Arts Gallery in Zambia.

"This fair is testament to that. It's a very good example of what's happening in the region."