How African Arty Nurtures Emerging Talent in Casablanca

For a man whose first love was Old Masters, and whose first job was in 18th-century furniture and decorative arts, establishing a contemporary African art gallery might seem like an unlikely career step. But after finishing a stint at the Sorbonne and a career at Christie’s, African Arty founder Jacques-Antoine Gannat embarked on a trip to the Middle East that would change the course of his life and career.

“After a few years in London, I wanted to discover something new, so I went to Lebanon to assist a collector who wanted to start his own foundation,” Gannat recalled. The collector was Tony Salamé, a leading Lebanese businessman, and the collection is now part of his Aishti Foundation. Founded in 2015, the Foundation today encompasses one of the most significant private collections of contemporary art, housing 2,000 works in an imposing 3,500-square-meter building in Beirut. (More than 150 works from Salamé’s collection are currently on view at the National Galleries of Ancient Art in Rome, through July 14th.)

A later trip to Morocco saw Gannat’s interest in African art blossom. There, he happened upon Loft Art Gallery in Casablanca, which focuses on modern and contemporary art from the continent. The gallery was looking for a new director who could develop the gallery internationally. Gannat joined in 2015 and has made the city his home ever since.

By 2019, Gannat was ready to start African Arty, and now, after four years of online shows and pop-up exhibitions, he has opened a permanent space in Casablanca. Not one to do things by halves, the intrepid Frenchman has opted for a 500-square-meter space, making it the largest private art gallery in the city. Gannat intends for the space to be less cold white cube and more 19th-century industrial-chic. It’s filled with light from 20 meters of windows facing onto the street, and will embody the gallerist’s mission to make the gallery a welcoming space where younger generations in particular won’t feel daunted. “We need to connect and create interactions between the public and the artists,” he said. “We invite schools to come and visit.”

The gallery is located right in the center of Casablanca’s financial buzz, in the Finance City, where many major international companies have relocated their regional headquarters, including Huawei Technologies and the hospitality company Accor. Designed as an “African economic and financial hub” that promotes business within the continent, the location is ideal for African Arty from a geographical and financial perspective. Gannat says that around 30% of the gallery’s collectors are Moroccans or internationals based in Morocco, and around 20% are from the rest of Africa. And, he says, the market for African art is continuing to grow rapidly: “You can see it in the acquisition committees for major international museums, with new museums opening in Africa, new galleries, new collectors,” he noted.

As well as hosting exhibitions, workshops, screenings, talks, and events, the gallery also contains 60-square-meter residency studio space, where it runs the newly introduced A/A Residency. The program, which includes off-site accommodation, offers residencies for local and international artists, and is driven by “a communal spirit and atmosphere,” according to Gannat. The first artist in residence was the Malian photographer Fatoumata Diabate, and its current resident is the Moroccan artist Zouhair Chihad. Several more artists are scheduled, including Mohammed Arrhioui and Hajar El Moustaassim.

The gallery’s represented artists—currently 12 in total—are also going from strength to strength. Its roster includes Rahma Lhoussig, a Moroccan artist who was included in the group survey “More than Blue: a Journey through the History of Moroccan Art” at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon last year; the young Cameroonian artist Dieudonné Djiela Kamkang; and the South African photographer Tsoku Maela, who has been with the gallery from the outset.

So far, Gannat’s decision to open a physical space has been vindicated. Its debut exhibition “And Beyond” brought together 13 artists from across the African continent, and was “intended as a synthesis, if such a thing is possible, of the work begun over four years ago by African Arty,” according to the gallery’s website. The opening was attended by 400 guests, including officials from the French and U.S. consulates and the Beninian ambassador to Morocco. “It was an amazing event,” recalled Gannat. “We presented many artists who had never before exhibited in Morocco, which were very well received.”