Ghana’s Ibrahim Mahama has been named the most influential person in the contemporary art world in 2025. Ibrahim was recognized as a totemic artist who uses industrial objects to tell stories of global trade and extractivist politics, and as an institution maker who uses his profits as an artist to build art institutions in Tamale.

Tanzania marked Independence Day last week amidst tensions between the government and citizens who planned to protest against the human rights violations and use of excessive force by the government during the October demonstrations.

• One of Nigeria’s most seen but least known female potters, Ladi Kwali, was celebrated at the Body Vessel Clay: Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art exhibition. Ladi, whose face appears on the 20 Nigerian Naira note, was known for her handmade Gbari water pots, made using wheel-throwing and glazing techniques.
• Jad Abumrad’s new podcast series, “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man,” captures how Fela Kuti's Afrobeats was a catalyst for a political movement that almost toppled a dictatorship.
• A photography exhibition in New York by 12 Sudanese photographers, Resistance in Memory: Visions of Sudan, personalizes the experiences of exile, displacement and resilience. Elsewhere, Dr. Khalid Mustafa documents the political economy of war in Sudan and discusses its structural drivers.

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Image: Artist Ibrahim Mahama at the Art Basel international art fair in Basel, Switzerland. 6 June 2025. Photo Credit: Phibeatrice, CC BY-SA 4.0. This photo was taken during 2025 Art Basel as part of the WikiPortraits initiative.