“There is always something new coming out of Africa.”
Gaius Plinius Secundus Maior, Naturalis historia
YARAT Contemporary Art Space presents "Ex Africa semper aliquid novi", a major exhibition curated by Alfons Hug, bringing together twelve leading artists from across the African continent. The exhibition explores the extraordinary diversity of Africa’s artistic production – a continent that continues to generate new cultural, political, and aesthetic narratives that shape the modern world.
For centuries Africa has been a catalyst for global transformation – from the cradle of humankind to the complexities of empire, slavery, colonization, and independence. Its cultural echoes have long transcended geography: visible in European art history, in jazz and carnival, in literature and architecture, and now, in the global contemporary art scene.
Today, Africa is once again at the center of profound demographic, ecological, and social shifts. Ex Africa situates these contemporary realities within deeper historical and cultural lineages, inviting viewers to reconsider Africa not as a periphery, but as one of the main engines of world civilization and creativity.
Contemporary African art is experiencing an unprecedented moment of visibility and renewal. Over the past decades, biennials in Dakar, Johannesburg, Marrakech, Bamako, and Luanda – together with major international exhibitions such as Documenta and the Venice Biennale – have positioned African artists at the forefront of global discourse.
Yet beyond international recognition lies a more complex story: one of indigenous modernities, hybrid aesthetics, and artistic resilience that transcends colonial and ethnographic frames. Contemporary African art draws simultaneously from traditional archives, Christianity, Islam, and modern global influences – creating a polyphonic visual language that resists linear narratives and canonical hierarchies.
"Ex Africa semper aliquid novi" introduces audiences in Azerbaijan to a new generation of African artists whose works, while celebrated internationally, are still little known in the region. The exhibition unfolds through four seamlessly interwoven thematic directions: the echo of history, where artists revisit collective memory and postcolonial legacies; bodies and portraits, reflecting on identity, representation, and the human presence; the urban drama, revealing stories of migration, inequality, and transformation; and vanishing voices, a sound-based exploration of linguistic fragility featuring eight Nigerian languages.
Together, these converging narratives reveal the multiplicity and vitality of contemporary African art – spanning painting, photography, installation, and sound – and illuminate both the continent’s profound challenges and its inexhaustible creative force.
Exhibition dates: 27 November 2025 - 5 April 2026
