17-06-2025
5 indie art spaces in African cities worth knowing about
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence — the past, present and future all happening at once. It's also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
Nafasi Art Space — Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 — that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi's new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises — artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city's biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
