This year, the fair’s curatorial theme “the restful ones are not yet born” presents an opportunity to challenge projected images and clichés about the continent with reinvented modalities of our own presence in the world. By taking inspiration from archives of the past and our experiences in the present, the fair’s special projects and speakers at ART X Talks this year will share ideas that contribute to creating a more collective and diverse possibility for the future.

We are delighted to present a robust accompanying program including four special projects namely Future Africa - an exploration of the challenges that arise when thinking about the future state of the continent by David Alabo and Adeola Olagunju; Unfolding Layers of Time - award-winning artist Kelani Abass’ direct response to our curatorial theme; We Are Here which brings together the Kaduna-based film collective The Critics, and the Lagos-based sound collective The Village Sound System, teaming up with ART X Lagos’ daily audience to develop an interactive narrative space.

ART X Live! combines the best of last year’s blockbuster performance film with an intimate music showcase, with its artists being invited to think about the various ways in which their work has been subjected to a combination of influences, as they subvert Western art forms and make them their own.