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Arts & Communication Contemporary art from the Global South

of African artists in the market. The cultural shift that and one of the biggest research challenges is to measure
began in May 2020 after the killing of Rodney King in it. While it is clear that many artists have migrated from
Minneapolis propelled the Black Lives Matter movement the Global South to Europe, North America, or Australia,
— originally founded in the wake of the murder of Florida the social process of artistic migration has been explored
teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012 — to global prominence. more in qualitative, and often personal, terms by authors as
This resulted in a global upsurge in activism against diverse as Edwidge Dandicat and Edward Said 29,30 .
racial discrimination, historical subjugation, and cultural In our sample of 51 artists, 22 have relocated to Europe
marginalization. New demands were placed on cultural or North America, but almost all circulate through these
institutions and market structures to provide a more diverse locations to initiate exhibitions at galleries, participate
representation of minority artists. Broadly speaking, in art fairs or biennials, and complete artist residencies.
this movement appears to be an important driver of this Anne Ring Petersen has introduced the concept of artists
market evolution . The Black Lives Matter movement has as migrant workers in a globalized art system, and this
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stirred up a tsunami in the art world by denouncing the concept applies to their works of art even more. Needless
lack of representation of the Black and African Diaspora to say, the artworks traded at art auctions in New York,
artists in art history books, museum exhibitions, and London, Paris, or Hong Kong are export goods from
on the market. For a long time, the Western narrative in the Global South, which are traded in economic centers
art history was considered the only narrative, excluding (though not necessarily ending up there). What’s even
any alternative discourse. The tide has unquestionably more compelling is the notion that artists are laborers in
changed, and this dynamic has forced curators, scholars, transit. However, they are perhaps more similar to skilled
and art experts to include African-American artists in the professionals who apply for work visas than to manual
discussion and promote this formerly marginalized group laborers (whether formal or informal) who transit from
of cultural producers. There has also been a spillover effect Global South countries to work in Europe or the US. In
that benefits African artists. This study concurs with the the US, there is even a special visa available only to artists
theory of a “Black Renaissance” posited by Artprice, in and cultural producers (the O Visa), and the UK offers
which Ghanaian, Nigerian, and South African artists have the “Global Talent Visa.” However, the EU does not have a
enjoyed a surge in popularity in the global art market over special program for artist migration.
the past 2 years, and we believe that Black Lives Matter has
played an instrumental role in this process . The creative Our artist selection in this section aims to represent
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industries have pivoted toward cultural inclusivity and artists from diverse locations with distinct trajectories,
diversity, reinforcing the crucial role that social movements and it includes Maria Taniguchi (Philippines), Firelei Baez
can play in shaping cultural institutions and promoting (Dominican Republic), and Lisa Brice (South Africa).
positive change in the market. The success of the African Taniguchi grew up in the Philippines, where she obtained
Diaspora in the art market serves as a powerful example her Bachelor’s degree in fine arts, and then she moved to
of how emerging artists from the Global South enter the London to earn her MFA at Goldsmiths College of Art. She
market and become fixtures of the art world. has since returned to live in Manila but is now represented
by the well-established French gallery, Perrotin. Similarly,
3.1.4. Women artists from the Global South and their Firelei Baez grew up in the Dominican Republic and then
migration relocated to New York to pursue her art studies. She has been
After observing that out of 51 artists from the Global South exhibited at James Cohan Gallery in New York, where she
featured in our study, only 13 are women, we selected now resides. Lisa Brice chose a different strategy, studying
three women artists who overcame this gender gap and in Cape Town and then moving to London temporarily for
established successful careers in the international art scene a residency at Gasworks Gallery. She decided to settle in
after migrating to other countries. Beyond our effort to London (and Trinidad) and is now promoted by Stephen
showcase women artists here, these examples underline how Friedman Gallery.
artists’ own mobility can also contribute to market success. These three women chose to relocate to Western
By examining the academic and professional background countries for professional opportunities, either temporarily
of our sample of artists, we observed that many artists from or permanently. Their sales results suggest that they have
the Global South migrated to the United States, Europe, been highly successful, and, furthermore, all of them are
and neighboring countries for their studies or to participate represented by major galleries and have had exhibitions
in residency programs abroad. Artistic migration has been in Western cultural institutions. To give but one example,
treated in recent literature on contemporary art 27,28 , but it Lisa Brice’s painting No Bare Back, after Embah (2017) was
is a topic not well understood in relation to the art market, sold for more than three million dollars, exceeding the

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1608