CAPE TOWN.- The Cape Town Art Fair announced the first of its special projects, Tomorrows/Today. To be co-curated by Azu Nwagbogu and Ruth Simbao, the project will feature eight solo representations by artists who are at the cutting edge of experimental contemporary art production.

As the director of the Lagos Photo festival in Nigeria and Head of the African Artists’ Foundation, Nwabogu's institutional background on the continent provides a valuable curatorial element to the fair. Holding a PHD from Harvard, Simbao is a professor of Art History at Rhodes University. Specialising in contemporary art in Africa, Simbao has curated a number of exhibitions that deal with issues of diaspora and cross-continental artistic exchange.

According to Fair Director, Matthew Partridge, “The curators have been carefully selected according to their profiles and placement on the continent. The reason for the choice of these two curators is to enable a dialogue that aims to re-situate contemporary art from Africa as part of a global dialogue.”

Of being part of the 2016 Fair, Nwabogu says, “I believe it is important to support platforms that foster an environment to explore new ways of engaging with contemporary art from Africa and diaspora especially on the continent. In my opinion, there are two major aspects where contemporary art from Africa is lagging. The first is critical discourse on contemporary and the second is access to markets. The Cape Town Art Fair seems to be a step towards critically bridging both gaps.”

“I am excited by the Cape Town Art Fair’s goal to engage more meaningfully with artists and galleries in other African countries,” says Simbao. “I hope that, through the special project, we can take small steps towards engaging across the continent in more meaningful ways.”

As one of the flagship events of Fiera Milano Exhibitions Africa, the 2016 Cape Town Art Fair, now in its fourth editoon, will take place from 19-21 February 2016 in its new venue at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Presenting the best of both contemporary art from Africa and the world its curated programme and will also feature a rich and diverse talks Programme and jury selection process for the special projects.

The call for entries for galleries wishing to participate in Cape Town Art Fair 2016, closes shortly.