The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has three continuous iterations globally, but Marrakech is arguably its most unique. This is partly thanks to the allure of the Red City and the fair’s headquarters at the iconic La Mamounia, a lavish, century-old palace that melds Moroccan architecture with Art Deco stylings.
As the fair’s VIP preview got underway on Thursday, collectors and institutional guests hummed with energy. This year’s edition of the fair—its sixth in Marrakech—features more than 30 galleries from 15 countries, including 15 from the African continent. In Marrakech, one of Artsy’s art capitals to watch in 2025, the fair is also situated in the heart of a thriving arts community. As well as the main fair in La Mamounia, 1-54 is hosting eight emerging galleries at DaDa, a multilevel arts hub in the city’s medina. An array of special projects with local and international institutions also bolster its programming.
The fair’s mission has always been to raise visibility for artists from Africa and its global diaspora. Founding director Touria El Glaouiwanted to rectify the fact that, as recently as a decade ago, she saw little trace of the art from the African continent when she traveled abroad. The fair debuted at London’s Somerset House in 2013, added a sister event in New York in 2015, and expanded to Marrakech in 2018. Throughout its existence, it has helped to shift outmoded notions of African art while responding to each locality.
El Glaoui is also keen to emphasize the Marrakech fair’s international perspective. “This diversity of where the galleries are coming from is bringing a diversity of collectors,” she told Artsy. “Each gallery has a network of different people that they invite to come to Morocco, which brings a very exciting and energetic group of people coming to Marrakech.”
Indeed, among the debutants at this year’s event is Tokyo’s space Un, partaking in its first-ever art fair since opening in April 2024. In a shared presentation with Galerie Atiss Dakar, the gallery is showing a pair of works by Senegalese artist Aliou Diack, priced at around €13,000 ($13,491) and €23,000 ($23,869) apiece. The gallery’s Cameroonian French founder Edna Dumas studied in Japan in the ’90s and moved back to Japan seven years ago, where she launched the only Japanese gallery with a focus on contemporary African art. “Historically, culturally, there’s no strong connection—yet,” said gallery director Naoki Nakatani. “But we’d like to create it through contemporary art.…The voices are real.”
Also relatively far-flung is the Kalhath Foundation from Uttar Pradesh, India, returning for the second year with a showcase of Amina Benbouchta’s intricate embroidery pieces, elegantly embellished with cut beads and resham thread. The Moroccan artist established needlework as a form of cross-cultural vocabulary while collaborating with 20 Indian master embroiderers over four months. The most expensive piece, Archives Alice (2025), a linen canvas with acrylic and anchor threads, is priced at €15,300 ($15,879) and sold within the first hours of the VIP preview. “Any collaboration with any two parts of the world—especially with our country, India—is just phenomenal,” noted Kalhath Foundation trustee Konarak Salian.
As well as a strong crowd of collectors, institutional attention was notable on the VIP day. Among the highlights was an Amoako Boafowork purchased by the Tate from Accra- and London-based Gallery 1957. Parisian gallery Loeve&Co, meanwhile, noted that collectors visiting its stand had meaningful connections to museums including Musée du Quai Branly and MoMA. “For us, the strongest proof that we haven’t been mistaken [in our tastes] is when museums show interest in the artists we show,” said the gallery’s artistic director Stéphane Corréard. Loeve&Co specializes in a “contemporary rereading of historical artists who feel very current but haven’t achieved the notoriety they deserve,” Corréard noted. Non-Western artists inevitably fall into this category. The stand’s selection includes vivid paintings by Haitian artist Roland Dorcély; the largest work, shown for the first time, is an untitled 1957 painting priced at €110,000 ($114,166). Nearby are Congolese painter Marcel Gotène’s spirited forests as well as Martinique-born artist Alex Burke’s patchwork textile sculptures. All three will be included in the forthcoming group show “Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950–2000,” opening at the Centre Pompidou in March. “It’s a sort of VIP preview,” joked Corréard.
As well as newcomers, stalwarts of 1-54 are prominent. Among them is Parisian gallery AFIKARIS, which has been participating in all three editions of 1-54 for the past five years. Curator and gallery director Michaela Hadji-Minaglou praised the fair for being at “human scale” and “qualitative, with a desire to educate—that’s why we keep coming back.” The gallery’s booth showcases works by Moroccan artists Mouhcine Rahaoui (whose pieces overtly reference the struggles of miners) and Omar Mahfoudi (who presents a series of colorful abstract landscapes), as well as Nigerian artist Ozioma Onuzulike’s tapestries, which consist of clay shapes referencing the pits from hearts of palm. One of Onuzulike’s works is the most expensive on the stand, priced at €40,000 ($41,515).
Crossing the Atlantic from New York, Ross-Sutton Gallery is showcasing a selection of works by Joshua Michael Adokuru, Khari Turner, and Dina Nur Satti. Adokuru’s bright figuration has been very well-received at the fair—it sold out at the last New York edition of 1-54—and it translates especially well in person with its intricacies of strings, nails, and acrylic on board. Here, prices for the artist’s works range from $9,000–$15,000.
While international galleries abound, the fair’s core consists of ten Morocco-based galleries. Among them is Loft Art Gallery, which presents an all-Moroccan lineup of artists including Amina Agueznay, Samy Snoussi, Nassim Azarzar, and Bouchra Boudoua. Based for 15 years in Casablanca, the gallery opened a Marrakech space in 2023—partly as a result of realizing that “Marrakech was the bridge between Morocco and an international clientele,” said Hiba Tahri, the gallery’s director of operations. She noted that 1-54 was an influential factor in making this a reality. “Here, we’re on our home turf and we’re putting forth Moroccan artists and Moroccan artisanal techniques, whether it’s using bark from palm trees or ceramics,” Tahri emphasized. Prices for works at the booth range from €800–€15,000 ($830–$15,573).
Meanwhile, at DaDa, a 20-minute walk away from La Mamounia, emerging art is the focus. At the entrance is Hunna Art from Kuwait City, which focuses primarily on artists from the Arab world and North Africa. The gallery is presenting a duo of young women artists, namely Moroccan artist Maissane Alibrahimi and Egyptian artist Amina Yahia, whose exploration of anti-patriarchal themes is expressed in groupings of works-on paper as well as oil paintings. Flanking the other side of the entrance is Tanger Print Club, a studio and independent publisher presenting affordably priced prints like figurative screen prints by Yasmine Hadni (priced at £300 ($372)) and Yto Barrada’s offset text work I AM NOT EXOTIC I AM EXHAUSTED (priced at £50 ($62)).
From its more emerging end to its longstanding galleries, 1-54 Marrakech is clearly flourishing thanks to its breadth of exhibitors, along with its international scope. “There’s definitely a broader recognition and a broader audience that is more engaged with contemporary African art,” El Glaoui affirmed. As Marrakech continues to thrive as an international arts destination, the fair’s mission to raise visibility for its artists is only set to grow.
