A curated selection of the fashion weeks, art fairs, biennales, design weeks and prizes that make up the cultural year in Africa and its diaspora. Each entry carries the city, the dates as organisers confirm them, and the Guzangs reporting behind it.
Dates move. We tell you when they are fixed.One email: the calendar as it firms up, and the reporting behind it.
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We write about African fashion, art, and design, and the people behind it. Reported properly, and worth your time. Leave your email and we’ll send it your way.
Four dates are already fixed: 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, 15 to 18 October 2026; Design Week Lagos, 18 to 25 October 2026; AKAA, 23 to 25 October 2026; Lagos Fashion Week, 28 October to 1 November 2026.
Everything else here is listed as organisers confirm it, and we update the page when they do. Straight answers to the questions we are asked most.
On view now
Through 2 January 2027
Exhibition
Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa
New York, United States
Four years of research into what independence actually built: West African modernism from the late 1950s to the early 1980s.
- At MoMA, a New Exhibition Celebrates West Africa’s Modernist Architectural Legacy
- Maputo’s Modernist Moment
- A Memory of Walls
- Robert B. Menschel Galleries, third floor, MoMA, New York
- Official site
Through 4 January 2027
Exhibition
Azzedine Alaïa and Africa
Paris, France
Olivier Saillard hangs about fifty pieces outside glass to trace what Alaïa carried out of Tunisia and spent a life turning into clothes.
- The Africa Azzedine Alaïa Carried
- Alaïa among the legacy houses that shaped African fashion
- Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, 18 rue de la Verrerie, Paris. Daily 11am to 7pm
- Official site
15 September 2026 to 7 February 2027
Exhibition
Unsteady Realms, Norval Foundation
Cape Town, South Africa
A solo exhibition by the South African artist Kate Gottgens at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town. It opens in the middle of September and runs into February.
Stay with the season
Dates, as they confirm.
We update this page as organisers confirm their dates. Leave your email and we will tell you when they do, and send the reporting behind each one.
Guzangs, in your inbox.
We write about African fashion, art, and design, and the people behind it. Reported properly, and worth your time. Leave your email and we’ll send it your way.
October 2026
15 to 18 October 2026
Art Fair
Opens in 2 weeks1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London
London, United Kingdom
The fair that set the template. Watch which galleries are new to the floor.
- Inside the Textile Language Installation by Art Comes First at 1-54 Art Fair
- What the Closure of Tiwani Contemporary Reveals About the African Art Market
- 1-54 New York 2025: African Artists Reshape the Narrative
- Somerset House, Strand, London. Press and VIP preview on 15 October.
- Official site
18 to 25 October 2026
Design Week
Opens in 3 weeksDesign Week Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria
Nigeria's design week, anchored at the National Theatre and spread across the city. This edition runs under Making a New Africa.
- National Theatre, Lagos, with openings and open studios across the city. Made by Design trade show inside the week.
- Official site
23 to 25 October 2026
Art Fair
Opens in 3 weeksAKAA
Paris, France
AKAA is a Paris fair for contemporary art and design from Africa and its diaspora. The eleventh edition takes place at the Carreau du Temple.
- Carreau du Temple, Paris.
- Official site
28 October to 1 November 2026
Fashion Week
Opens in 4 weeksLagos Fashion Week
Lagos, Nigeria
The most consequential week on the continent. Buyers in the room, not only cameras.
November 2026
November 2026 to February 2027To be confirmed
Awards
Sovereign African Art Prize
Franschhoek, South Africa
The Sovereign African Art Prize shows its finalists at The Ateljee Gallery on the La Motte wine estate outside Franschhoek. Entries closed in March and the shortlist was due in September.
- The Ateljee Gallery, La Motte Wine Estate, Franschhoek.
- Official site
5 to 8 November 2026
Art Fair
Opens in 5 weeksART X Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria
West Africa’s anchor fair, now past its first decade.
To be confirmed
Fashion Week
GTCO Fashion Weekend
Lagos, Nigeria
Bank-funded, free to the public, and the clearest read on the retail end of the market.
14 November to 6 December 2026
Biennale
Opens in 6 weeksLagos Biennial
Lagos, Nigeria
A city-wide contemporary art biennial held in Lagos. The fifth edition runs for three weeks, from the middle of November into early December.
19 November to 19 December 2026
Biennale
Opens in 7 weeksDakar Biennale (Dak’Art)
Dakar, Senegal
The 16th edition of the continent’s oldest biennale, and its sprawling OFF programme across the city. Its closing month overlaps Dakar Fashion Week.
To be confirmed
Fashion Week
Mozambique Fashion Week
Maputo, Mozambique
Two decades in, and still the best argument for the lusophone corridor.
Closes 22 November 2026To be confirmed
Biennale
Venice Biennale: African Pavilions
Venice, Italy
Last weeks to see the national pavilions before the edition closes.
December 2026
1 to 6 December 2026
Fashion Week
Opens in 9 weeksDakar Fashion Week
Dakar, Senegal
The 25th-anniversary edition of Adama Ndiaye’s week, and the one that most reliably stages outside a venue. It falls inside the Dak’Art run.
10 December 2026 to 15 August 2027
Exhibition
Opens in 10 weeksTurning Towards the Sun, Zeitz MOCAA
Cape Town, South Africa
Zeitz MOCAA opens a group exhibition on its fourth level that runs into the middle of next year. The museum has scheduled it alongside an artist-led studio residency on level two.
- Level 4, Zeitz MOCAA, Silo District, Cape Town.
- Official site
To be confirmed
Festival
Homecoming Festival
Lagos, Nigeria
The centre of gravity for December in Lagos. Fashion, music and the diaspora return.
January 2027
Early 2027To be confirmed
Fashion Week
Hub of Africa Fashion Week
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Less runway, more manufacturing. The most infrastructure-minded week on the calendar.
February 2027
19 to 21 February 2027
Art Fair
Investec Cape Town Art Fair
Cape Town, South Africa
The southern African market in one room. Institutional buying is visible here.
27 February to 6 March 2027
Festival
FESPACO
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
FESPACO is the pan-African film festival held every two years in Ouagadougou. The organiser has opened its call for films for the thirtieth edition.
March 2027
18 to 21 March 2027
Art Fair
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Marrakech
Marrakech, Morocco
The North African edition, and the week Marrakech fills with collectors.
- Inside Anouri Original: The Brand Reviving Moroccan Craft in Modern Fashion
- Meriem Berrada Took Morocco to Venice for the First Time
- The New Stewards of El Fenn
- La Mamounia, Marrakech. VIP and press preview 18 and 19 March, public days 20 and 21 March.
- Official site
April 2027
13 to 18 April 2027
Design Week
Milan Design Week
Milan, Italy
Watch the collateral programme. The African presence is rarely in the main fair.
- Craft West Africa at Milan Design Week 2025
- Salone del Mobile at Fiera Milano Rho, 13 to 18 April 2027.
May 2027
2027 editionTo be confirmed
Awards
Loewe Craft Prize
Worth tracking for which African material practices reach the shortlist.
June 2027
10 June to 17 October 2027
Exhibition
Baya, Tate Modern
London, United Kingdom
Tate Modern stages the first solo exhibition in Britain of the Algerian artist Baya. It opens in June and runs to the middle of October.
Mid 2027To be confirmed
Art Fair
Africa Basel
Basel, Switzerland
The newest entrant, timed against Basel week.
July 2027
Mid 2027To be confirmed
Conference
Africa Textile Talks
Cape Town, South Africa
Where the sustainability and supply-chain argument actually gets had.
Institutions to watch
Programme announced season by season
Institution
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
New York, United States
The most consequential platform for African modernism inside a major US institution right now. Worth tracking for what it acquires as much as what it hangs.
Programme announced season by season
Institution
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
Paris, France
The standing Paris platform for North African and Arab-world art, design and craft. The counterweight to a continental story too often told from Lagos and Dakar alone.
Questions
- When is 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London 2026?
- 15 to 18 October 2026, in London, United Kingdom. Full listing
- When is Design Week Lagos 2026?
- 18 to 25 October 2026, in Lagos, Nigeria. Full listing
- When is AKAA 2026?
- 23 to 25 October 2026, in Paris, France. Full listing
- When is Lagos Fashion Week 2026?
- 28 October to 1 November 2026, in Lagos, Nigeria. Full listing
- When is ART X Lagos 2026?
- 5 to 8 November 2026, in Lagos, Nigeria. Full listing
- What is on view right now?
- Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa (Through 2 January 2027), Azzedine Alaïa and Africa (Through 4 January 2027) and Unsteady Realms, Norval Foundation (15 September 2026 to 7 February 2027).
- How often are these dates checked?
- We check them against the organisers and update this page whenever a date is confirmed or moved. Last updated 16 September 2026.
Dates marked to be confirmed are our reading of the season and have not yet been verified with the organiser. We update this page as each is confirmed. Spotted something missing or wrong? Write to us and we will correct it.