African Artist Foundation
Dear partners,
Since awarding the Transformative Grant to the African Artists’ Foundation in Cycle IV, we have had the privilege of the long view as Dig Where You Stand became a programme that justifies every instinct behind the decision to support AAF’s vision. The programme - built on the pillars of Regeneration, Restitution and Remediation - had no track record to present to funders when we backed it. It now has additional funders, staged exhibitions and developed a continent-wide network of curators and artists across nine countries (Ghana, Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal, France, Brazil, Nigeria and Senegal) and changed institutions by its passage through them. On 21 May, we spoke with the AAF team: Azu Nwagbogu, Nkhensani Mkhari, Olufèmi M. Hinson Yovo, Andrew Amawhe, Olayinka Olatoye and Sapphire Kehinde. It was one of those conversations that leaves you thinking differently about what cultural infrastructure can actually do, and about the vital role of Outset Partners’ funding making it possible from the outset.
An audio recording is available here. We believe it is worth an hour of your time.
(Unfortunately the video recording did not capture)
AAF produced a detailed report on Dig Where You Stand which is available here.
Project status:
The programme is in the production phase of its Lagos–Dakar iteration, In Sea: After the Harvest, opening in October 2026.
Changes from last update:
Since its launch at the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in Tamale, Ghana in 2022, the programme has travelled through nine countries across Africa, Europe and South America — with each iteration led by a different curator and shaped by its host city’s context. The most recent, Atlantic Treads, traced architectural and spatial connections between West Africa and Brazil through a residency at Cité des Arts in Paris, an exhibition at the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia in Salvador, and a manifestation in Abidjan. The partnerships and material generated feed directly into the current iteration. You can read more in the report.
In Sea: After the Harvest is now in production under Nkhensani Mkhari’s curatorial direction. The title is drawn from a single word meaning land, body and earth simultaneously. Olafur Eliasson, Marlene Dumas and Ai Weiwei have donated works to circulate within Africa only. KADIST and Institut Français Dakar are confirmed as Partners.
Key themes from the conversation:
“The institutionalisation of generosity — the proposition that a generosity of spirit, like exclusivity or risk-aversion, can be built into institutional culture until it becomes the default.” — Azu Nwagbogu
Generosity is a structural choice. It can be built into how an institution operates, just as risk-aversion currently seems to be.
The gaze. Olufèmi M. Hinson Yovo put the question directly: “Who makes the work, who shows it, who sees it? Audiences in Cotonou [Benin] encountering Zanele Muholi’s work without having travelled to Paris or Cape Town — that is not access. It is restitution: the return not of objects but of the capacity to look on one’s own terms, at work made from within the same histories.”
How a programme can shape an institution. The Palais de Lomé [Togo] had run on an idea of art as something exclusive for the wealthy and glamorous, closed to community audiences and indigenous artists. The Dig Where You Stand iteration opened it to both. The director shifted her practice. The curator who led the iteration now works there full-time and holds a fellowship at Zeitz MOCAA.
Next steps:
- In Sea: After the Harvest opens in Lagos during Nigeria’s cultural week in October 2026 and travels to Dakar.
- A curators’ retreat brings together every contributor to Dig Where You Stand in mid-October 2026 for a conference on knowledge exchange and to deepen relationships and networks established.
- In 2027 AAF marks its twentieth anniversary with programming modelled on FESTAC and formalises the transition from the African Artists’ Foundation to Dig Where You Stand as the organisation’s name and identity.
- AAF is fundraising $250,000–$500,000 in support of the 2027 anniversary and South Africa programming.
- A Dig Where You Stand South Africa iteration is in development with NIROX Sculpture Park and A4 Arts Foundation.
Further Outset support:
The conversation turned to what Outset could do alongside the grant — specifically around visibility, introductions, and fundraising. Two concrete threads emerged.
In Canada, Outset Partner Carol Weinbaum raised the possibility of exhibitions or programming travelling there, with a connection already identified: Tandazani Dhlakama, Curator of Global Africa at the Royal Ontario Museum and previously at Zeitz MOCAA, who is known to Azu. AAF will build a menu of options — ranging from a talk tied to the November 2026 Lagos opening to exhibition proposals for 2027–29 — and will share these for discussion. Further institutions mentioned include the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada.
In the UK, Hayward Gallery and Serpentine were mentioned as aspirational Partners. AAF and Nkhensani Mkhari will share a set of conceptual frameworks currently in development so that Outset can determine how best to support this ambition.
The overarching ask is not only financial: it is about using Outset’s network to raise awareness of the programme and to bring the right institutions and collectors into contact with it.
We remain grateful for your generosity, which enables Outset’s support of trailblazing projects like the African Artists’ Foundation. Should any questions arise, please reach out at partners@outset.org.uk.
Warmest wishes,
The Outset team
