ArT ACROSS BORDERS

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Walkers with the Dawn

What does it mean for African artists to create “value” collectively?

This year’s edition of Art Across Borders, curated by Fikayo Adebajo, asks where value lies beyond what is traditionally validated by the art market. The 2026 cohort brings five artists from across the continent whose studios also function as workshops, incubators, schools and residencies. This year’s edition welcomes:

• Kaloki Nyamai (Kenya) – Kamene Cultural Centre
• Georgina Maxim (Zimbabwe) – Village Unhu
• Ghizlane Sahli (Morocco) – work with female artisans
• Kiluanji Kia Henda (Angola) – KinoYetu and Fuckin’ Globo
• Victor Ehikhamenor (Nigeria) – Angels & Muse and Black Muse Festival.

By spotlighting artists dedicated to building local capacity, infrastructure and livelihoods, this marks a shift towards understanding African art on its own terms. When work is considered through the broader social and economic impact of its making, a different set of criteria for worth emerges. In this way, the collaborators paid, apprentices trained, knowledge shared, traditions preserved and communities developed are just as important as the institutional hands an artwork has passed through. 

The title is taken from Julie Mehretu’s painting, Walkers with the Dawn and Morning, which in 2023 set a milestone record at auction for any African artist. Here, "Walkers with the Dawn" represents artists who see into new horizons and think boldly about who they can invite to walk alongside them. It gathers a cohort who believe value moves outward rather than upward. In a rapidly shifting world, investing in the African art market means investing in the communities and ecosystems that sustain them.

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