African Galleries to look out for at Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025

The 12th Investec Cape Town Art Fair celebrates its most ambitious edition yet with a strong focus on African artwork, from Abidjan to Windhoek.

This year’s Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025 continues the tradition of championing critical dialogue and intercultural exchange — cementing its status as the leading platform for contemporary art across the continent and beyond. We’ve highlighted some of the African galleries, outside of South Africa, exhibiting at this year’s fair to showcase the diversity and innovation shaping the continent’s art scene.

ANGOLA

JAHMEK Contemporary Art (Luanda)

Based in the capital, Luanda, JAHMEK is a platform which, through its programme of exhibitions, aims to promote dialogue and critical thought on the subject of visual artistic expression in Luanda through the work produced by the artists it represents both in Angola and overseas. As a personal manifesto, in the words of its founders, Mehak and Jardel Vieira,

JAHMEK represents the tripartite connection between Love, Art and Life, an experience that inspires individuals to come together in a world of cultural, intellectual and conceptual diversity, where purpose and the desire to make things happen consolidate the belief and vision necessary to achieve our goals. We are a society; we follow dreams and illustrate life experiences.”

The Art Affair (Luanda)

Digital and pop-up art gallery, The Art Affair, are no strangers to South African art fairs. The Luanda-based gallery exhibited at FNB Art Joburg in 2024 and is returning to South Africa for this year’s Investec Cape Town Art Fair. The Art Affair are making their mark in the art world, co-producing the internationally award-winning documentary, ‘Kalunga, o Mar de Angola,’ directed by Bernardo Gramaxo and co-produced by The Takes (Margarida Gramaxo) and The Art Affair (Alexandra Gonçalves), showcasing its people, culture and nature through surfing.

THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE (Luanda/Lisbon)

THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE is an international, contemporary art gallery based in Lisbon, Portugal. Representing and collaborating with emerging and established artists, the gallery focuses primarily on narratives associated with the African continent and its diaspora. Beyond its deep connection to Africa — and with a pioneering spirit of decompartmentalisation and inclusiveness, cheerfully favouring intercultural dialogues — THIS NOT A WHITE CUBE is the first African gallery in Portugal to open its collaborative circle to both local artists and artistic productions from the Global South, including Brazil and non-lusophone African countries.

EGYPT

Gypsum Gallery (Cairo)

Gypsum Gallery is a contemporary art gallery established in Cairo in late 2013. The gallery is committed to presenting an international, cross-disciplinary programme of solo and occasional group exhibitions. Since its opening, the gallery’s exhibitions and artists have already been featured in relevant art magazines. Gypsum has the vision of redefining contemporary art in society, moving away from the non-profit art it is associated with to a commercial gallery context. Gypsum Gallery was founded by Aleya Hamza, a Cairo-based independent curator. Her exhibitions and projects have gained international recognition.

TAM Gallery (Cairo)

In 2012, The concept for TAM.Gallery was developed as a virtual and physical space that bridged the gap between the growing network of talented contemporary artists looking for a new platform to sell and promote their work, and consumers interested in experiencing and buying unique contemporary art. With an inventory of over 9000 art pieces and a continuously expanding portfolio of over 500 contemporary Egyptian artists, TAM.Gallery is one of the largest multi-platform art organisations; comprising of online and offline galleries, exhibition spaces and exciting art event venues. The gallery has hosted the largest retrospective exhibitions for several Egyptian masters including Omar El Nagdi, Mohamed Abla, Britt Boutros Ghali, Ibrahim El Tanbouli & Abdelwahab Abdelmohsen, amongst others.

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

GALERIE FARAH FAKHRI (Abidjan)

GALERIE FARAH FAKHRI is a contemporary African art gallery in Abidjan dedicated to artists from the African continent and the diaspora. The gallery programme showcases contemporary art across painting, sculpture, textile, and mixed media installations. In conjunction with the exhibition programme, GALERIE FARAH FAKHRI hosts residencies programmes, inviting artists from the continent and the African diaspora to immerse themselves in the vibrant artistic community of Côte D’Ivoire. By positioning local artists, and artists of the African continent in dialogue with international audiences and creatives, the gallery expands beyond its walls and extends to offsite projects where established artists are presented alongside the most vanguard practices.

LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery (Abidjan)

Also based in Abidjan, LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery offers artistic events marked by their aesthetics and quality. LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery is a vehicle for aesthetics, debates and transformations, for the promotion of artists and new techniques and meeting with an aesthetic public of all ages, and cultures constituting the vibrating megalopolis that is Abidjan. Each exhibition is a stimulating and rewarding experience, driven by the excitement of risk-taking and artistic choices. The gallery is in constant dialogue with the creators and their public participates in setting the spirits in motion and gives everyone the opportunity to revise their certainties.

MOZAMBIQUE

Malangatana Valente Ngwenya Foundation (Maputo)

Named after the iconic Mozambican artist, Malangatana Valente Ngwenya (who became known by his first name), the foundation pays homage to the multifaceted Mozambican poet and artist. He produced a vast repertoire of work, including drawings, paintings, sculpture, ceramics, murals, poetry and music. Malangatana also helped to start a number of cultural institutions in Mozambique, and was a founder of the Mozambican Peace Movement. He was awarded the Nachingwea Medal for his Contribution to Mozambican Culture, and was made a Grande Oficial da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique. In 1997 he was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and received a Prince Claus Award. Malangatana revived African indigenous aesthetics, performing an anti-colonial identity, dialectically opposed to the imposed colonial structures present in 1960’s Mozambique.

NAMIBIA

The Project Room (Windhoek)

Designed out of the need for an intimate environment, where Namibian art and artists could gain exposure for their creative works and connect with others in the field, The Project Room was officially established in 2016. Created by Namibian jewellery designer and artist, Frieda Lühl, The Project Room presents an accessible local platform of creative expression and interactivity, a collaborative space to appreciate and interact with artists and their artworks. In its physical form, The Project Room is housed in an airy, whitewashed art gallery in Windhoek suburbia, and hosts regular exhibitions, featuring a diversity of artworks that range from jewellery and ceramics, to print, photography, painting, performance and fine art. In addition and through activities like artist-walkabouts, group projects and workshops, it serves as a welcoming setting to exchange creative thoughts and ideas.

NIGERIA

16/16 (Lagos)

16/16 is a family-owned boutique hotel and private gathering space located in a nondescript building, tucked away in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos. The hotel operates as a design-focused space, where humility meets high quality, with an eye towards simplicity and using only materials found within in the locale. 16/16 is a safe haven for travellers and creatives away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos and throughout their 7 year history operating as a hotel, gallery and creative incubator, they have posed questions that rest at the intersection of hospitality, art, efficiency and beauty — presenting a new prototype that provides shelter while also orienting guests to the greater perspectives that Lagos offers.

AMG Projects (Lagos)

AMG Projects is on a mission to empower African artists and curators. The gallery serves as a critical gateway to the international art world for emerging talent, curating and supporting ambitious projects across diverse media aimed at encouraging crucial dialogue between African artists and the international art world. Based in Lagos, AMG Projects facilitates broader social access and global opportunities for artists and curators, hosting a portfolio of contemporary art geared towards promoting curiosity and thought within post-colonial and socio-political contexts in Africa.

kó (Lagos)

kó is an art space based in Lagos, Nigeria dedicated to promoting modern and contemporary art. kó has a dual focus in championing Nigeria’s leading artists from the modern period and celebrating emerging and established contemporary artists across Africa and the diaspora. The gallery was launched by Kavita Chellaram, an art collector and founder of Arthouse Contemporary in Lagos, who has been a major force in developing the modern and contemporary art market in Nigeria. Her exhibitions and projects over the years have contributed to the global recognition of numerous modern African masters. In the Yoruba language, kó translates as a verb “to gather” or “to build,” cementing the gallery’s support of creativity within contemporary art in Africa by providing a platform to communicate, share and grow

SOTO Gallery (Lagos)

SOTO Gallery is a community-centered space seeking to rediscover new ways of engaging artists in response to age-old questions around art and philosophy. Founded by Tola Akerele, the gallery opened in September 2022 in the southwestern region of Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. The gallery’s mission is to reflect on ideas from a renewed standpoint through immersive exchanges and art education, resulting in a transformative experience of art from Africa in its varied forms. SOTO Gallery curated +234Art Fair, one of the biggest art fairs in Nigeria and has also organised an annual residency programme.

Windsor Gallery (Lagos)

Windsor Gallery stands as a beacon of contemporary and modern art, with locations in prestigious venues such as the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Abuja, Nigeria; and Lagos, Nigeria. Their space in Lagos is an energetic destination for contemporary art and luxury design, offering a sophisticated space to discover both emerging and established artists. The gallery’s mission is to offer fresh insights into the West African art market, serving both emerging and established artists while guiding novice and experienced buyers. In addition to showcasing established and emerging artists, Windsor Gallery is committed to enhancing their roster through ongoing programming and exhibiting at art fairs.

SENEGAL

OH GALLERY (Dakar)

In the heart of the Plateau, the historic city center of Dakar, stands OH Gallery, a unique venue for contemporary art and creation. The gallery hosts monographic and group exhibitions as well as an off-site programme that reaches out to the public. The gallery contributes to stimulating an audacious rhythm to contemporary creation in Senegal. It offers tailored events and experiences: exclusive and personalised moments for collectors and visitors, in order to spread the wealth and plurality of this artistic landscape as widely as possible. The artists exhibited transform their singularity into a dialogue and make their hybrid origins an echo that crosses borders.

TUNISIA

Blue Wind Project (Sidi Bou Saïd)

Founded in 2021 in Sidi Bou Saïd by Khadija Hamdi, an art historian based between Tunisia and Spain, the ‘Blue Wind Project’ is an exhibition program hosted mainly by the Le Violin Bleu gallery and built around the (re)discovery of emerging and/or mid-career artists, whose work reflects the social concerns of Southern countries. The project focuses on artists from the diaspora, with the aim of allowing their visibility in their continents of origin. Exhibitions are often accompanied by conferences and round tables with the participation of curators, art critics and other collectors from different backgrounds. The Blue Wind Project’s activities are centred on the gallery, but also include an active programme in-situ exhibitions and collaborations inside and outside Tunisia, such as this year’s Investec Cape Town Art Fair.

UGANDA

Afriart Gallery (Kampala)

Founded in 2002 and located in Kampala, Afriart Gallery (AAG) has since become a leading international contemporary art gallery currently representing artists living and working on the African continent. The gallery focuses on original forms of expression and dialogue with the public, providing an environment where collectors can find powerful contemporary artistic ideas and discussions. The gallery was founded by Daudi Karungi who is a trained artist who understands the difficulties young artists on the African continent face. The gallery team is committed to creating a fair playing field and supportive community for artists by continuously implementing projects that foster their growth through mentorship, visibility, and archiving.

Borderlands Art (Kampala)

Rooted in pan-African perspectives, Borderlands is an agile space concerned with issues of environment, conflict and repair. Borderlands uses exhibitions, events, and research to foster critical inquiry and activism — a form of sustainable action within a space that connects collectors and institutions to social and environmentally engaged artists. All of their engagements come in the form of collaborations that directly impact migration and climate crisis. Through their work, the gallery resists systems of erasure that sideline indigenous forms of creativity. Over time, Borderlands aims to build an accessible archive of provenance and practice with a transdisciplinary approach that seeks to inform discourses both within and outside the arts.

ZIMBABWE

First Floor Gallery Harare (Harare)

First Floor Gallery is Zimbabwe’s leading contemporary art space with a programme which incorporates artist development and educational and socially engaged cultural initiatives alongside gallery practice. Since opening in 2009 as an experimental artist-run initiative, First Floor Gallery Harare has launched numerous international careers of Zimbabwean artists and beyond. In 2020, the gallery opened a second gallery space in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe’s fastest-growing city and premier destination for international visitors, with the aim of expanding its programme and audience reach as well as supporting development of the local emerging artist community. What began as a small artists’ project has in the past few years become one of the most important venues for exhibitions and events for fine arts, film, poetry and music in Zimbabwe, and owing to exhibitions abroad it has also gained international recognition and relevance.

In addition to the range of African galleries participating in this year’s Investec Cape Town Art Fair, there is a host of South African galleries present, including:

Here is the list organized alphabetically, line by line:

131 A Gallery (Cape Town)
16 on Lerotholi (Cape Town)
50ty/50ty (Cape Town)
99 Loop Gallery (Cape Town)
Art Formes (Cape Town)
Artist Proof Studio (Johannesburg)
ArtThrob (Cape Town)
artHARARE (Cape Town)
Berman Contemporary (Johannesburg)
BKhz (Johannesburg)
blank projects (Cape Town)
Candice Berman Gallery (Johannesburg)
Christopher Moller Gallery (Cape Town)
Dale Sargent Fine Art (Johannesburg)
Demo Projects (Cape Town)
EBONY/CURATED (Cape Town/Franschhoek)
Eclectica Contemporary (Cape Town)
Eleven Editions (Johannesburg)
Everard Read (Johannesburg/Cape Town/Franschhoek/London)
Graham Contemporary (Johannesburg)
Goodman Gallery (Cape Town/Johannesburg/London)
Guns & Rain (Johannesburg)
Kalashnikovv Gallery (Johannesburg/Cape Town)
Lemkus Gallery (Cape Town)
Locus (Johannesburg)
Loft Editions (Cape Town)
Occupying The Gallery (Johannesburg)
Red Room Gallery (Cape Town)
RESERVOIR (Cape Town)
Riaan Bolt Antiques (Johannesburg)
SMAC Gallery (Johannesburg/Cape Town/Stellenbosch)
Southern Guild (Cape Town/Los Angeles)
STEVENSON (Cape Town/Johannesburg/Amsterdam)
The Melrose Gallery (Johannesburg)
THK Gallery (Cape Town)
Untitled (Cape Town)
Vault Research (Cape Town)
Vela Projects (Cape Town)
WALL (Cape Town)
WHATIFTHEWORLD (Cape Town)
WORLDART (Cape Town)