Since its founding in 2018, the Marrakech edition of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has been instrumental in raising the profile of this Moroccan city, long a tourist hub. But the fair, now in its sixth edition, is only one part of an ecosystem that has made Marrakech into one of the Africa’s most important art hubs.
“Marrakech has welcomed, through 1-54, large groups of collectors and institutions, and it’s had a huge impact of the Moroccan ecosystem with galleries opening second locations in Marrakech,” 1-54 founder Touria El Glaoui told ARTnews ahead of the opening of its second VIP day. “The Moroccan art market is very strong. I’ve been saying that loud and clear from even before we started the Marrakech fair. Casablanca, Rabat, Tangiers, and Marrakech [each] have about five or six strong galleries.”
Though 1-54 started in London and then expanded to New York, El Glaoui’s goal was always to launch a fair on the continent. Because of Marrakech’s attractiveness as a tourist destination and its luxurious hotels and growing food scene, the city became the ideal candidate.
“With Marrakech, it was about finding a city that could sustain the fair,” she said. “The artists all wanted to show on the continent. There’s a pride for them in belonging on the continent. The core of the fair is about promoting and giving visibility to artists from the continent and the African diaspora.”
The fair, which is spread across two venues, opened on a rainy Thursday morning. From its opening minutes, the intimate hall of the five-star La Mamounia hotel, which is host to 22 of the fair’s 30 booths, was packed, with the aisles crammed with collectors, curators, critics, and more. The smaller portion, consisting of the remaining eight booths, is held at DaDa, a mixed-use space just off Jemaa el-Fnaa, the city’s main bustling square, a 15-minute walk from La Mamounia.
The fair attracts an…