Dakar's biennale opens 19 November with 54 artists and a theme of repair

What does a show called (Anti)fragility ask of its visitors? It asks for repair: the theme is arts of repair and counter-shock strategies. Its director, Morad Montazami, sees fragility as a strength and a source of poetry.

Dakar hosts the 16th Biennale of Contemporary African Art from 19 November to 19 December 2026. It opens on Thursday 19 November. The main show and the design section sit in the old courthouse, the Ancien Palais de justice. A tribute show goes to the Galerie nationale d'art.

The context

Morad Montazami is an art historian, publisher and curator. The steering committee named him artistic director in April, the Biennial Foundation said. His theme draws artists from Africa and its diasporas, with island spaces among them. It also asks how people live with each other, and with the living world.

Who is in the line-up

Dakaractu said the artist list came out on 24 September. It counts 54 artists in the main show and 21 in the design section. The site lists 22 designers, so the design totals differ by one.

Georges Adéagbo of Benin and Victor Adewale of Nigeria are on the list. So are Dela Anyah of Ghana and Jean David Nkot of Cameroon. Mona Okulla Obua is listed for Uganda and Germany, and Nia Hampton for the United States. The report names 11 artists with Senegal links, such as El Hadji Sy. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the guest country of honour.

What else to know

Faouzi Laatiris is the invited Grand Témoin, a title that means Great Witness. Serigne Mbaye Camara has a carte blanche, an open offer to shape his own space. A tribute honours the artist Abdoulaye Niokhor Bob, known as Ngoor.

Five threads shape the programme, says the Biennale de Dakar site. One is greening the old courthouse, in the site's French words reverdir l'ancien palais de justice. Others cover care and repair, sharing knowledge and linking continents.

My school French got a long workout from these pages.

Our view

We think a theme about repair fits a show that sets out to green an old courthouse. The site says hours and entry terms will come before the opening. Check the page before you book, since neither is public yet.

Would you visit?