African Art: The ARAK Collection, essays

Framed via erudite yet marvellously readable essays by Cape Town-based writer and cultural analyst Ashraf Jamal, the ARAK Collection of contemporary art from Sub-Saharan Africa emerges in this book as a provocative challenge to many of the trends that have characterised the way African art has been seen over the past couple of decades. Put together since 2016 by AbdulRahman AlKhelaifi and located in Doha, Qatar, the ARAK Collection currently includes more than 4000 works. The vast majority of “art star” names are entirely absent from the collection, and its breadth means that just casually paging through this visually beautiful book will inevitably result in the discovery of exceptional work by many artists who are new to you. The section about African Abstraction is a particularly special highlight in this regard, and indeed overall.