1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair London is set to take place at Somerset House.
The 2026 edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair London is set to take place at Somerset House. At Booth S-6, the gallery will present a selection of new works by Buqaqawuli Nobakada, Samuel Nnorom, and Joke Amusan, offering a compelling insight into the artists’ distinct practices and evolving explorations of material, identity, and lived experience.
Joke Amusan
Joke Amusan, Home Travels With Us, 2026.
Joke Amusan is a German-Nigerian artist based in London, England. Her art practice illuminates the rich, multifaceted experiences of Black womanhood by exploring identity, heritage, and migration. She creates immersive installations that engage multiple senses, and her art serves as a conversational bridge: inspiring women to come together, share their stories, and unapologetically embrace their authentic selves.
Joke’s work has been featured in group exhibitions such as “Re.Stance Collective”, New York, 2026; “Glitch the Gaze: The Feminist Recode”, D*MN Collective, London, 2026; “Extinguish”, Southside Contemporary Art Gallery, Virginia USA, 2025; “From Africa to Detroit: An Exploration of the Diaspora”, Norwest Gallery of Art, Detroit, USA, 2025; and “Unraveled”, Art Museum of the University of Memphis, Memphis, USA, 2025. She has also presented solo exhibitions and fairs such as “What shapes us does not disappear” Affinity Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria; “Where Two Or Three Are Gathered”, TAFETA, London, 2025; “Curating The Culture”, MAIA, Birmingham, UK, 2025; and “Dallas Art Fair” with TAFETA, Dallas, USA, 2025.
Buqaqawuli Nobakada
Buqaqawuli Nobakada, So We Kept Dancing, 2026.
Buqaqawuli Nobakada (b. 2000) is a contemporary mixed-media artist, trained at the University of the Witwatersrand, whose work uses acrylic paint and lace to depict intimate portrayals of Black women, positioning hyper-femininity as a space of power, beauty, and self-determination. Her practice celebrates tenderness and contemporary Black aesthetics while asserting her subjects as both architects of their own futures and deserving of grandeur.
Nobakada has exhibited internationally, including recent shows at the Albany Museum of Art, Affinity Gallery in Lagos, and Undertheaegis in Cape Town, and has participated in major fairs such as 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London and Art X Lagos. She is the recipient of several awards, including the ANNA Audience Choice Award (2023), Lexus Best Booth at RMB Latitudes (2024), and first prize at the 2025 Tilga Art Prize (South Africa Edition).
Samuel Nnorom
Samuel Nnorom, A Wall Within a Body, 2026.
Samuel Nnorom (b.1990) is an internationally acclaimed Nigerian artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans textile, painting, and sculpture, transforming discarded Ankara fabrics, clothing remnants, and fibres into his signature “bubble” forms that metaphorically explore human connection, coexistence, and survival. Based in Nsukka and trained at the University of Nigeria, he is associated with the New Nsukka School. He is the Founder and Director of Ulo Nka Residency, a program supporting emerging artists.
Nnorom has received major international recognition, including the Ettore e Ines Fico Prize at Artissima (2023) and the Art for Change Global Prize at the Saatchi Gallery, London (2022), and has exhibited widely across Africa, Europe, North America, and beyond, with notable institutional solo exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery and the Textile Museum of Canada in 2024. His work is held in leading global collections, including the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, and Kunsthal KAdE in the Netherlands.
Venue:
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom.
Booth S6 (South Wing)
VIP and Press Preview:
Thursday 15 October, 11:00 – 19:00
Public and VIP Opening:
Friday 16 October, 11:00 – 19:00
Saturday 17 October, 11:00 – 19:00
Sunday 18 October, 11:00 – 18:00
