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
“ passionate Arete Arts is a platform to amplify the voices and messages of contemporary African artists who are about the environment and social justice COURTESY THE ARTIST AND EVERARD READ GALLERY d’art et création, and another key member of the Arete Arts Community. “The Palais was the former German and French governor’s palace. It was derelict for 20 years when Sonia led the initiative to fund and refurbish it into a contemporary art museum set within 11 hectares of natural biodiversity. It’s the first property of its type, a contemporary art museum devoted to biodiversity and raising awareness for the need to protect natural landscapes. They have a thousand schoolchildren come through the doors every week, to learn about art and about the natural habitat, to understand where their food comes from, and to discover new flora and fauna.” It’s an ambitious business model given the vicissitudes of the art world, but one cannot but applaud Arete’s ideals, not least in promising their artists “a minimum 70 per cent” cut of any sale. “So in that scenario we’re helping the artist too,” Keladitis adds. The key is growth, and they do know a lot of people: they have recruited an impressive community of supporters across Africa and beyond, among them the French-Nigerian opera singer Omo Bello (they’re as committed to the performing arts as to visual forms) and Tiphaine de Mombynes, Director of the Metis Fund for art and development, which is hosted by French development agency (AFD) to enrich dialogue and sustainable development impacts. And that is ultimately what Arete Arts hopes to do more of. “We could have formed a straightforward non-profit or found a niche within the collecting space,” Keladitis says, “but our mission is to weave those things together: to connect collectors and donors with those interested in social and environmental projects. And to use that money, and that awareness, to support grassroots initiatives.” aretearts.org AVIAN INSPIRED Proof by South African artist Colbert Mashile, courtesy of Everard Read Gallery NetJets 13
