The Mbari Institute for Contemporary African Art offers emerging, and established African artists opportunities to showcase their work in the United States. Director Mimi Wolford provides exhibition space in Washington, D.C., and organizes traveling and single-site exhibitions at museums and universities throughout the country. In January of 2007 she organized her first group exhibit in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mimi was introduced to the vibrant arts of Africa by her mother, whose lifetime involvement with African artists, museums, patrons and scholars culminated in a book, New Currents, Ancient Rivers: Contemporary African Art in a Generation of Change (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), renowned as the authoritative survey of post-independence artists in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mbari Institute, founded in 1995, is a non-profit arts organization, which has organized over thirty-six solo and group shows. Mimi offers opportunities to emerging African artists, especially those who have not had exposure in the United States. Featured artists include Hamid Kachmar of Morocco, Sane Wadu of Kenya, Rackie Dianka and Abdoulaye Ndoye of Senegal; Isaac Ojo, Peju Layiwola, Yinka Adeyemi and Wole Lagunju of Nigeria, Sanaa Gateja of Uganda and Bethel Aniaku of Togo. Mbari also exhibits some of Africa's better known international artists such as Malangatana of Mozambique and Twins Seven Seven, Jimoh Buraimoh and Bruce Onobrakpeya of Nigeria. In addition to single person exhibits, Mbari has mounted major exhibitions of Contemporary African Art for other institutions, the latest being an exhibition of eighty-five pieces by women artists of Africa.

To receive invitations to Mbari open houses when in the United States, sign our mailing list or contact us. You may also request appointments for private viewing.

MISSION STATEMENT

Mbari Institute for Contemporary African Art (MICAA) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit multidisciplinary organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, identification, documentation, and exhibition of work pertaining to the art, craft, and culture of Africa. Its goals are to educate the public, give visibility to African artists, promote and publish research, and act as a permanent repository for the works of contemporary African artists, books, publications, and related materials.