Organizers: Jonathan Adeyemi and Kathryn Brown (Loughborough University)

DAY 1: October 15, 2026

10.00–10.15 Welcome and refreshments

10.15–10.30 Introduction: Jonathan Adeyemi (Loughborough University)

10.30–11.30 Panel 1: Alternative Systems of Validation and Valuation
Chair: Kathryn Brown (Loughborough University)

Craniv Boyd (Freie Universität Berlin): Margaret Courtney-Clarke’s “African Trilogy” and the Valuation of Women Made Rural Mural Arts.

Sónia Duarte (Lisbon Institute of Art History): Black Musicians in European Art: Representation, Mobility, and Value (17th–19th Centuries)

Julianna Sandholm-Bark (Webster University, Geneva Campus): New Wave of Visibility: African and African Diaspora Art in Switzerland.

11.30–12.00 Discussion of Panel 1

12.00–13.00: Lunch

13.00–14.00 Panel 2: Markets and Collectors
Chair: Melanie Fasche (Sotheby’s Institute of Art)

Colleen Foran (Boston University): Defining Art Ecosystems: Ghana as Case Study

Henrique Germano Etges (University of Glasgow): Markets and collectors: The agency of institutions and collectors in directing attention to the arts of Africa

Adefolakunmi (Fola) Adenugba (Sotheby's Institute of Art): Black Patronage as Critical Infrastructure: Black Collecting Networks and the Conditions for Sustainable African and Diasporic Art Markets

14.00 – 14.30 Discussion of Panel 2

14.30 – 14:45 Break (Tea/Coffee)

14.45–15.45 Panel 3: Internationalisation and the Adaptation of Exogenous Models
Chair: Brett Scott (Collections Manager and Cultural Producer, Brett Scott Art)

Milla Peerutin (The Courtauld Institute of Art): The Extraction Dividend: Resource Extraction, Elite Capture, and African Art Fair Sovereignty

Adeniyi Adeoluwa (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria): Transplanted Frameworks: How Western Art Market Models Are Reshaping Creative Entrepreneurship in Ghana's Contemporary Art Sector.

Kathryn Brown (Loughborough University): Problematising Internationalisation: From Aaron Douglas’s Song of the Towers to Yinka Shonibare’s Decolonised Structures

15.45–16.15: Discussion of Panel 3

Drinks Reception

DAY 2 – October 16, 2026

10.00–11.00 Panel 4: Mobility and the Advantage of Place
Chair: Jonathan Adeyemi (Loughborough University)

Aurella Yussuf (University of Birmingham): Proximity Without Privilege: Place and the Conditions of Artistic Production for Black Artists in Britain

Alain Quemin (Université Paris 8, GEMASS – Sorbonne Université / Institut Universitaire de France): Success in the circuit of biennials. What can explain the presence of artists of African descent, and especially of African artists?

Loubna Benrabeh (Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco and University of Bourgogne Europe in Dijon, France): Morocco, Africa and the World: The Global Promotion of a National and Continental Art Scene

11.00–11.30: Discussion of Panel 4

11.30–11.50: Break: Tea/coffee

11.50–12.30 Panel 5: Digital Shifts
Chair: Kathryn Brown (Loughborough University)

Wenibaraebi Patterson Ugo (University of Benin, Nigeria): From Soft Power to Platform Power: How the British Council and Tate Modern’s Digital Programming Internationalised African Diasporic Art, 2020–2026

Adeniyi Adeoluwa, PhD (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria): From Offline Studios to Online Sales: How Nigerian Visual Artists Are Using Digital Platforms as Entrepreneurial Tools

12.30 – 13.00 Discussion of Panel 5

13.00–14:00 Lunch

14.00–15.00 Panel 6: Decolonisation and Financialization
Chair: Jiang He (Loughborough University)

Yoram Eshkol-Rokach (Independent Researcher): Decoloniality or Neocolonialism? The Politico-cultural Aspects of Global Collecting of African Contemporary Art

Bola Adalumo (The Pennsylvania State University): Decolonising African Art in a Financialized Global Market: Between Cultural Recognition and Commercial Value

Jonathan Adeyemi (Loughborough University): Decolonisation and the Neoliberal Turn: Africa in the Venice Biennale

15.00–15.30: Discussion of Panel 6

Conference closes

Registration Link for online partecipation: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/7kp9tsUQGv?origin=lprLink

There is no charge to attend the conference. Please send any queries to J.O.Adeyemi[]lboro.ac.uk or k.j.brown[]lboro.ac.uk

This conference is made possible through support from The Leverhulme Trust