The engineer and pipeline magnate started buying West African art during business trips through Ghana and Senegal, his collection growing until he met Serge Attukwei Clottey, Ibrahim Mahama and the blaxTARLINES group around 2013. With their encouragement, Zakhem established Gallery 1957 in Accra in 2016, expanding to three spaces in the Ghanaian capital, and opening London premises in 2020. Clottey came on board, as did Gideon Appah, recently picked up by Pace; so too Collin Sekajugo, who represented Uganda at the Venice Biennale last year; joined, this year, by veteran Ghanaian artist Godfried Donkor. In September former ICA director Ekow Eshun curated Donkar and other newly signed artists in a show in Accra. Zakhem has kept his original promise to support the local scene, not just by participating in art fairs internationally but also through the Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize, which supports Ghanaian and diaspora female artists, and a residency programme that this year featuring 14 pan-African artists.
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Power 100
Most influential people in 2023 in the contemporary artworld
95
Marwan Zakhem
Gallerist - Founder of rapidly expanding Gallery 1957
95 in 2023
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