The Fondation Louis Vuitton continues on a high note with their latest exhibition “Art/Afrique, le Nouvel Atelier”. The three-part gallery show spotlights lesser known elements of the thriving African art scene with a series of fresh perspectives on artistic creativity and artists through an extensive choice of works.

The section called “The Insiders” brings together selected works by fifteen iconic artists displayed for the first time in Paris. Influenced by spiritual, scientific and technical traditions, the artists express themselves through a variety of forms and media, creating a significant body of work that spurs awareness of a heretofore little-known art scene. 

The Insiders selection of works are on loan from the Geneva-based collection of Jean Pigozzi who entered into “unknown territory” when he began buying art directly from artists in Sub-Saharan Africa with the help of art advisor André Magnin in 1989, says Suzanne Pagé, the foundation’s artistic director and the show’s head organiser. The show looks primarily at work made between then and 2009 and includes the Zimbabwean photographer Kudzanai Chiurai and the Congolese painter Chéri Samba.

A complementary section based upon the developing art scene in South Africa titled Being There: South Africa presents 17 artists born between 1930 and 1991 whose works have been hailed as a new form of social activism and have caught the attention of galleries and universities from around the world. Being There: South Africa examines contemporary issues that continue to plague the country more than 20 years after the end of the apartheid.

“The current situation of the country is very present in the works,” Pagé says, as with Sue Williamson’s two-screen video It’s a Pleasure to Meet You (2016), which portrays two young South Africans’ differing attitudes towards suffering during Apartheid.

The third section features selected works from the Foundation Louis Vuitton collection focusing on African artists whose creations engage with the African continent.

The exhibition runs from April 26 to August 28, 2017 at Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris.