The Best Booths at 1

For its tenth edition in London, the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair had more than 50 galleries present some of the most compelling and cutting-edge art made by artists from Africa and its diaspora. There's a lot on offer in this tightly curated affair, from a bevy of figurative paintings to textile-based abstractions that are pushing the limits of sculpture.

In the courtyard of the regal Somerset House, leading to the fair is a major installation by Grada Kilomba, titled O Barco (The Boat). At 32 meters, the work is meant to replicate the scale of the hold of a historical slave ship. It's made from 140 charred wood pieces, with the works at its center being inscribed in gold with a line each from a poem written by Kilomba that has been translated into multiple languages: those of people who were enslaved (Yoruba, Kimbundu, and Creole from Cabo Verde) and those who profited from slavery (Portuguese, English, and Arabic). An excerpt from the poem reads: "One oblivion one wound / one wound death." It's a powerful memorial to all that slavery has wrought and how its aftereffects continue on today.

Below a look at the best on fair at 1-54.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Algerian independence, Algerian French artist Isabelle D. has created a new body of work that features intricately woven and knitted objects that are arranged into dense compositions.

Though they appear coral-like, the works are abstracted landscapes that deal with the bruises caused by colonization; B. had selected her color palette carefully, as they often correlate to the coloration of a bruise in its various stages from purples to blues to greens to yellows.

In its booth, London's October gallery is showing a selection of four sculptures by Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè, who is also the subject of a solo show at the gallery. Both showings have on view examples from the artist's signature "masques bidons" (repurposed masks) series, shaped from various found objects, most notably jerry cans.

Though clearly meant to allude to African masks, these striking sculptures also point toward global political concerns, like how petrol/oil is trafficked through West African countries like Benin or how the ultra wealthy hide behind shell companies to hoard their wealth, as revealed by the Panama and Pandora Papers.

In a statement, the artist adds that his masks "in no way resemble powerful African masks used for ceremonial purposes. Whereas such artifacts exist as mysterious power objects, each of my ‘masks’ portrays a real-life individual," like a corrupt politician, for instance.

On a commanding red-painted wall hangs just over half of the 90 elements that comprise Vancouver-based artist Jan Wade's Epiphany (Indian Mask), ca. 1997. In it are dozens of variously sized crosses that combine found objects and upcycled ones she sourced from various flea markets.

Melding her own religious upbringing with diasporic religions like Santeria that draw from African and South American beliefs, these crosses are striking and many are subtly wry and humorous. One that's adorned with floral elements, images of white men in suits, and pictures of nude women reads: "Sex / let they who are without sin cast the first stone / trade." That text is formed from a combination of Scrabble tiles and gold metal letters.

Cape Town–based artist Chris Soal first started making sculptures by gluing together bottle caps and then progressed into using toothpicks, which help form the structure of this site-specific sculpture that is also made with fabric.

A more organic and shaped work than his earlier ones, this sculpture bends around a mantle in one of Somerset House's rooms. After sealing this industrial fiber with a polyurethane sealant, Soal scorches it using a blowtorch, creating a form that appears like a burnt animal skin, though here it has been processed many times over by humans, including Soal.

In a stunning installation, British Nigerian artist Sola Olulode presents part of her ongoing "Bed Series," at the center of which is a large blue bed. On its headboard are the painted faces of four Black women, which the comforter and sheets, hand-dyed in indigo by the artist, also depict the outlines (done in white batik) of two women lying next to each other.

Olulode's aim with the work is two-fold: honoring textiles and the traditions of hand dying as well as a celebration of queer love, in particular between women.

South African artist Sthenjwa Luthuli has a background in printmaking, nurtured by the time he spent at the BAT Centre for Visual Art in the eastern coastal city of Durban, where he first started taking classes in 2010. He became adept at making woodcut prints, itself a laborious process cutting into the wood (in the inverse) to create an image. He soon realized that he could apply those wood carved objects into works themselves, but at a much larger scale.

At 1-54, the artist is showing a suite of such hand-carved works that are finished with enamel paint and often take months to complete. Set against richly textured colored patterns, headless figures float in space, appearing as if they are dancing. For Luthuli, these figures connect to his ancestors, both those known and unknown, whose stories have been lost—or purposely erased—from history.

To create these sculptural abstractions, Malian artist Ange Dakouo, who was featured in Documenta 15 earlier this year, gathers together cardboard and newspaper and then creates small padded rectangles that resemble amulets, or "gris-gris," which are traditionally worn by hunters in Mali. He then dyes the gris-gris in reds, whites, and more and hand stitches them together to create elegant abstract wall-hung abstractions.

In doing this, Dakouo is attempting to "create a harmonious universe, through which the ‘gris-gris’ represent people who are supposed to protect each other," according to an artist statement.