A Marrakech edition for 1:54 art fair?

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Could 1:54 the world’s preeminent African art fair launch an outpost in Africa?

1:54, the contemporary African art fair launched in London in 2013 and in New York in 2015, might inaugurate its first edition on the African continent, with the launch of a Marrakech edition tipped for early 2018, according to Melanie Gerlis of the Financial Times.

Whilst negotiations are still ongoing, it looks like 1:54 will be the first Western fair to open an outpost in Africa. Last year, 1:54 was present at the sixth edition of the Marrakech Biennale, where it organized a series of roundtable talks during the fair’s opening week, discussing the state of contemporary photography in Morocco, as well as the possibility of creating a national contemporary art collection.

Despite being one of the few major events dedicated to contemporary African art, 1:54 has largely welcomed European and US galleries in past years — something that is beginning to change in New York, with the 2017 edition featuring newcomers hailing largely from Africa, including 1957 gallery (Accra, Ghana), MOV’ART (Luanda, Angola) and VOICE Gallery (Marrakech).

1:54 director Touria El Glaoui has long expressed her wish to create a strong collector base in Africa.  The next edition of 1:54 will take place in New York from May 5 through 7.

A representative for 1:54 spoke to H A P P E N I N G on the phone, but no further information about the event is available at present.