The first-ever art fair devoted exclusively to art from Africa will be held 13 to 16 March 2008, at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

On sale will be the largest collection of African and South African contemporary art ever, covering 5 000 square metres of gallery space.

“The Joburg Art Fair will establish South Africa as an essential stopover on the global contemporary art buying calendar,” says Ross Douglas, director of Artlogic, the company behind the fair.

There are 22 galleries in the fair, from New York, London, Germany, the UK and Africa. Contemporary African art showcased at the Joburg Art Fair will range from R1 000 to R5-million.

The Joburg Art Fair will include a specially curated show entitled ‘As you like it’ by Simon Njami, chief curator of the highly successful Africa Remix exhibition, as well as the Africa pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. Njami will be choosing works by artists from across Africa who will not be represented by galleries at the fair, and all these will be on sale. Douglas says Njami’s participation is a stamp of approval on the continent’s first art fair and will set the tone for what will be an annual event.

International contemporary art galleries confirmed for the 2008 Joburg Art Fair include the Perry Rubenstein Gallery and the Jack Shainman Gallery from New York, Galerie Peter Hermann from Berlin, Galerie Ames d’Afrique from Strasbourg, The Townhouse Gallery and L’Appartement 22, Rabat from Morocco and the October Gallery from London. The galleries have been specially invited to participate so buyers can expect an unparalleled selection to choose from. Galleries will have works on sale from many of the big names, including Zwelethu Mthethwa, William Kentridge, Guy Tillim, David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo and Moshekwa Langa.

Artlogic was also responsible for bringing William Kentridge’s critically acclaimed Magic Flute production to South Africa.

Find more information, including participating artists and galleries, at www.joburgartfair.co.za