AKAA art and design fair brings African artists to Paris

Home Shows arts24 Video content Program Culture To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: arts24 © FRANCE 24 11:30 Issued on: 23/10/2026 - 17:13Modified: 23/10/2026 - 17:13 From the show Every year the art and design fair AKAA, or "Also Known as Africa", brings dozens of African and Afro-descendant artists to the French capital. As the 11th edition gets underway, we welcome Nigerian painter Midegbeyan Ojisua and South African artist Olivié Keck. Ojisua's ethereal paintings are inspired by the Italian Renaissance and the colour palette of Leonardo da Vinci in particular, with earthy tones emphasising the connection between humans and nature. Keck, meanwhile, sets faceless female figures against bright pop backgrounds – a nod to ancient Greek ceramic silhouettes that highlights femininity and elevates them to the status of divine beings. We discuss the two artists' latest work, their differing styles and a new generation of African art buyers.