The contemporary art scene across Africa is supported by a network of dedicated foundations committed to fostering cultural exchange. Below are five foundations across the African continent that support the research, making and display of art by working with artists, curators, and various cultural workers. 

Fondation H

Antananarivo, Madagascar 

Fondation H is a Malagasy contemporary art foundation. It was founded in Antananarivo in 2017 on the initiative of entrepreneur and patron Hassanein Hiridjee, who believed that art and culture have a strong social impact and enable a critical opening to the world. It has been recognised as a public utility since 2018.

Fondation H operates programs dedicated to supporting artists from Africa and its diasporas in their careers, facilitates public access to art, and actively participates in the development and structuring of the art scene in the Indian Ocean.

Fondation H, in its space in downtown Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, invites local or international curators to conceive exhibitions anchored in the Malagasy context. The emphasis is on local productions, through residences and creative grants. Depending on the choice of the curators, the artworks presented in the space may be loaned works or belong to Fondation H’s collection, which is largely focused on artists from Africa and its diasporas.

Guest Artists Space Foundation

Lagos, Nigeria 

Ijebu, Nigeria 

Guest Artists Space Foundation (Nigeria) was established in 2019 by the eminent British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA. Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation is a non-profit that delivers residencies and public programmes across two sites: one in the heart of the dynamic city of Lagos and the second on a rural working farm in Ijebu in Ogun State.

G.A.S. Foundation enjoys a steady flow of diverse and multidisciplinary research residents, ranging from emerging to celebrated artists, architects, designers, performers, curators and renowned researchers, amongst others.

Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute 

Nairobi, Kenya 

Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) is a non-profit visual art space dedicated to the growth and preservation of contemporary art in East Africa.

Established in 2020, NCAI builds on a rich legacy of art projects and institutions in the region. NCAI tells the stories of the artists and projects that have come to shape the region’s contemporary art scene.

Through exhibitions, the development of an East African art archive, an extensive public program of talks, and a multidisciplinary educational program, NCAI serves as a hub and a resource for the thriving East African art community and an inspiring cultural space for our audiences.

With support and book donations from art institutions and galleries in Kenya and abroad, NCAI is building an art library. The Institute is also developing an archive of exhibitions, events, and writings that tell the story of the artists and the art of East Africa.

Nesr Art Foundation

Luanda, Angola 

The Nesr Art Foundation is an independent art foundation founded in 2021 by Hiba and Wissam Nesr. It focuses on supporting Angolan artists and artists from the continent, through a platform for dialogue and exchange within Africa and internationally. The foundation provides a space for artistic research, production, and critical discourse through its residencies, collection, and educational projects, centred around a creative hub located in Luanda, Angola.

Taking place in Luanda, the NESR Art Foundation’s residency program is open to all emerging artists from Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé e Príncipe and the selection is made by the foundation’s Artistic Committee following an open call for applications.

African Artists’ Foundation

Lagos, Nigeria 

African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), founded in 2007, is a community-focused, decentralised, multivalent, metamorphic art space that embraces experimental artistic principles in supporting boundary-breaking and artistic ideas. Over the years, AAF has evolved beyond the limiting shell of a non-profit to embody an art space that is responsive, attuned to social justice issues, ecology, freedom, and community initiatives by empowering creative expression.