Contemporary Arts of Africa

This reading list consists primarily of books and exhibition catalogs. It does not include publications on individual artists. The arrangement is in three parts: (1) broad or general surveys, (2) major group exhibitions of modern African art, and (3) regional and country studies or exhibition catalogs.

The Harmon Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation active from 1922 to 1967, helped foster an awareness of African art. When the foundation ended its activities in 1967, it donated to the National Archives its entire collection of motion pictures, filmstrips, color slides, and black and white prints and negatives on a variety of subjects.

Under the artistic direction of Simon Njami, an international team of curators assembled this overview of the artistic production in Africa and the African diaspora. 88 artists are represented.

Since 1992, the Dak’Art, the Biennial of the Contemporary African Art has been a platform for contemporary art with cultural roots in Africa. The Biennale of Contemporary African Art aims at being a space of different prejudice-free visions on approaches and inspirations to analyse in relation to a plurality of influences from both immediate and farther sources.