The African Art Hub (TAAH) is a United Kingdom-based art market platform and agency that promotes contemporary artists from Africa and the diaspora. It scouts for contemporary African visual artists to unveil hidden talent the continent has to offer to the world stage. The platform strives to be at the forefront of efforts to break barriers and reinvent bridges between artists and collectors (corporate and private), galleries, museums and art aficionados while ensuring that African artistry is valued as it deserves.
TAAH was founded in November 2021 by Abraham Abia, a leading energy lawyer in Africa. Undeniably, his dedication to the advancement of the economic and social status of Africa, led him to enhance his entrepreneurial skills in various fields including art. Growing up, Abia noticed a crisis among enthusiasts who, mostly because of lack of funding and support, had to give up their practice to pursue alternative paths. This fueled his ambition to establish an art agency dedicated to supporting the careers of artists from the African continent and globalize African art on the international art market.
The agency’s E-Gallery and global digital platform highlight how independent the art community has become from the typical high street gallery space. This distinct feature places TAAH in a unique position through a wider audience reach and platforms to provide artists with a much larger market while ensuring that artists don’t find themselves limited or bound by the agency.
TAAH’s team members and participants of the ambassador program are made up of select individuals from different continents and countries, who all operate under the resourceful leadership of TAAH’s Project Manager, Pratiti Shah, a curator, art consultant and researcher TAAH Ambassadors represent the agency in their corresponding countries and are the mediators between TAAH and artists within their respective regions. The idea is to create an environment that is conducive to form and sustain synergies and allow room for growth and collaborations to form. This further reinforces the agencies’ aim to have a solid local presence in its artists’ regions and be a global conduit as well as a network of African art, artists and art practitioners.
TAAH is a hybrid platform with varied features. Although there are plans to open a physical gallery in 2023 in addition to the online platform, the agency seeks to step out of the conventional gallery model and intends to have its art on display within the African borders and beyond. This is made possible with the “Public Art” (PA) program and/or through collaborations with existing agencies. TAAH is prepared to provide art that is not just for gallery goers but all admirers alike. Through the PA program, the agency seeks to collaborate with developers and TAAH’s team of sculptors to construct large-scale art installations across cities and towns.
The TAAH community program is another feature, which caters for artists associated with the agency – it provides artists with the leverage not only to be seen and gain sales, but equally to be nurtured to mature in the international market and grow in knowledge and capacity to take on the market independently.
The agency is interested in engaging art enthusiasts, stakeholders and practitioners through regular interviews with artists, important art personnel and external agencies. These interviews are then promoted on all social media platforms and websites. Artists represented by TAAH are taken through periodic crit-sessions, slide show presentations and lectures. The agency is committed to building a sophisticated and assertive crop of artists with quality and intriguing bodies of work while treating clients, buyers and collectors to a varied constellation of thought-provoking, visceral imagery and wide-ranging art forms from across the African continent and beyond.
TAAH is not merely an art e-commerce platform but personally assists clients and curates portfolios based on individual budgets and preferences. The TAAH team presents a carefully curated selection of artworks handpicked just for clients and prospective buyers and will also guide clients who are interested in art commissions by attentively taking note of their preferences.
Ultimately TAAH is committed to supporting African artists to leave a lasting mark in the international market and it has been doing just that and intends to revamp the contemporary African art market. TAAH’s commitment to supporting African artists striving to make a mark on the international art market is unwavering and this is exactly what has been managed thus far. Truly, TAAH’s unique and refreshing approach is a strength that benefits its artists and patrons alike.
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