The Wick List

Viewing 1-54 Art Fair at Somerset House

The Wick Culture - Monica De Miranda.Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above Monica De Miranda.Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

The Wick Culture - October Gallery. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above October Gallery. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

The Wick Culture - FILAFRIQUES. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above FILAFRIQUES. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

The Wick Culture - 193 Gallery. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above 193 Gallery. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

The Wick Culture - Afeez Onakoya, Wura III, 2025, Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, 92 x 61 cm. Courtesy of O'DA Art.

Above Afeez Onakoya, Wura III, 2025, Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, 92 x 61 cm. Courtesy of O’DA Art.

Above Monica De Miranda.Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above October Gallery. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above FILAFRIQUES. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above 193 Gallery. Courtesy of 1-54 and Jim Winslet

Above Afeez Onakoya, Wura III, 2025, Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, 92 x 61 cm. Courtesy of O’DA Art.

1-54 Art Fair

Somerset House
15 – 19 October 2025

Another must-see of Frieze week in London is 1-54 at Somerset House, the dedicated hub for contemporary art and galleries from across the African continent and diaspora. The 13th London edition of the fair include fifty galleries from thirteen countries, with a special curated section this year devoted to art from the Caribbean.

Special projects to hot foot it to this year include, ęmí: freedomsong, an audio-visual installation inspired by bell hooks’ All About Love and Camille Sapara Barton’s Tending Grief. Equally immersive is the salon installation by Le Tings, centred around the artistry of the hairdresser and the conversations that take place in the barbers chair. Meanwhile, The Inherited Counter-Archive presents a conceptual photo-studio and installation by Everyday Lusaka Gallery (Zambia), featuring work by veteran photographer Alick Phiri.

If you need another reason to visit: the iconic Neoclassical courtyard at Somerset House has been transformed by Mónica de Miranda into a social sculpture: Earthworks (2025). This site-specific project reimagines public space as “a living, collective, and sensory archive, an articulation of stage-sculptures and vertical gardens” that will be brought to life with performance, actions and conversations over the coming days. It’s inspired by Achille Mbembe’s idea of “terrestrial communities, where the human and non-human life are intertwined in care and shared survival, the project transcends soil and plant life into living archives of resistance.”