1-54 New York: Caribbean Diaspora Drives Bold New Markets

From 8 to 11 May 2025, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair will return to New York for its eleventh edition, celebrating ten years of presence in the city. This year's fair will be held for the first time at The Halo, 28 Liberty Street, in the heart of Manhattan's financial district. The new venue will provide a fresh and expansive backdrop for a fair that has become a cornerstone of New York's cultural calendar each spring.

With around 30 exhibitors from Africa, Europe, the United States and the Caribbean, the fair will showcase work by over 70 artists working across a range of media, from painting and photography to sculpture, installation and digital forms. The 2025 edition is set to reaffirm 1-54's distinct role in platforming contemporary African and diasporic art within an international context, attracting collectors, curators, museum professionals and a wide public audience.

This edition will also build on a curatorial direction introduced in 2023 with 1-54 Presents , a series of pop-up exhibitions launched by the fair. The inaugural show, Sparkling Islands, Another Postcard of the Caribbean , featured thirteen artists from across the region and its diaspora, challenging stereotypical portrayals of the Caribbean and offering a complex and diverse view of its contemporary art scene. Curated by the late Caryl Ivrisse Crochemar, the exhibition marked a pivotal step in expanding the fair's focus and deepening its engagement with Caribbean perspectives. The 2025 Caribbean Spotlight will be developed in continuity with that initiative, paying tribute to Ivrisse-Crochemar's vision while advancing the conversation it began.

As 1-54 celebrates a decade in New York, this upcoming edition will reaffirm the fair's position not only as a commercial platform but as a site of exchange, research and cultural connection. The inclusion of Caribbean perspectives this year will offer a timely and important expansion of the fair's mission, setting the stage for deeper, more layered conversations around identity, migration, resistance and representation within the global art world.

The 2025 edition of 1-54 New York will feature around 30 exhibitors and over 70 artists from 17 countries across five continents. Presented for the first time at Halo, 28 Liberty Street, the fair will take place in a striking 30,000 square foot venue in Manhattan's financial district, offering an expansive setting for its broad and international curatorial vision.