New fair Latitudes aims to boost world's understanding of African art

An exciting new player on the South African art scene, Latitudes Art Fair, will present its inaugural event from September 13 to 15 in Sandton.

Co-founders Lucy MacGarry and Makgati Molebatsi aim to create a richer global understanding of African cultural production.

"By African, we mean anyone who has a meaningful connection to Africa and the diaspora, and by international, we mean the endless permutations of trans-geographic relationships - not the reinforcement of values entrenched in European and American economic centres," says Molebatsi.

Developed in collaboration among several African galleries, the idea is to expand audiences and nurture the exchange between players - from galleries and collectors to curators and researchers.

Being launched as part of the wider Art Week Joburg programme, the fair will draw together a selection of galleries, independent platforms, studios and artists from around the continent.

There will also be a programme of special projects, including Essay (a section designed to profile one established and one emerging artist); Spotlight (a selection of artists from Africa and the diaspora whose work is unknown or under-represented outside of their own regions), and Independent (a curated exhibition of early-career artists with no gallery representation).