NetJets EU Autumn 2023

GOODWILL
TAKE A RIDE
Motorcycle by
Beninese artist
Falhoun Ogoun
nature, which features artists from across
the continent, notably El Anatsui and Serge
Attukwei Clottey (both from Ghana), Romuald
Hazoumè (Benin), Abdoulaye Konaté (Mali),
Wangechi Mutu (Kenya), Pascale Marthine
Tayou and Barthélémy Toguo (both from
Cameroon), as well as London-based Sir John
Akomfrah RA, Sokari Douglas Camp CBE and
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA.
Arete Arts Community is also planning to
offer bespoke travel experiences “to connect
with African artists and art initiatives”.
Any profits it generates will be donated to
the Foundation, which is in the process of
registering with the UK’s Charity Commission.
Editor of Afroprophetic: Art transforming minds
and nature, and Arete Arts Circle member,
Sophie Braine, curated an inaugural exhibition
for the benefit of Arete Arts Foundation at
Christie’s in London, where Braine worked for
10 years. Arete Arts funded the publication
of the book and all profits from the sale will
go to funding grassroots projects across the
continent. “It’s too soon to tell what sort of
sums it will raise but it is opening the door to
conversations with like-minded people, who
share our belief in the transformational power
of the arts,” says Keladitis.
What money they have raised to date has
come mostly from art sales made at private
events across the globe, including a dinner in
Hong Kong, hosted by the collector Benjamin
Sigg, nephew of the famed collector of Chinese
art, Uli Sigg – from whose private collection
more than 1,500 items are now on display at
the M+ museum in Hong Kong.
“Most of the dinners are funded by the
people hosting them,” Keladitis explains, adding
that the next ones will be held in the US and
Kenya. “These are people who are passionate
about wanting to buy art with a purpose. Like
what we are seeing in the travel industry,
people want to travel but also be educated
and immerse themselves in a new culture. Art
speaks to and from our deepest selves, artists
are communicating a story about their view of
the world. Collectors want to meet the artists;
they want to understand their backgrounds.”
There is a potential travel element to Arete’s
offering. “We hosted an event at Chaminuka
Lodge in Zambia,” she says, referring to Andrew
and Danae Sardanis’s game lodge, which is also
home to a substantial collection of African art,
more than 1,000 pieces acquired over the past
half-century that they display throughout the
main house and 30 guest suites. “And we would
love to host more events in Africa and are
working with Le Palais de Lomé in the Togolese
capital, an incredible project run by Sonia
Lawson, a former management consultant and
latterly curator of the Togolese stand at the
Paris art fair Révélations biennale des métiers
COURTESY THE ARTIST AND ARETE ARTS
12 NetJets