La Galerie 38 at Art Genève: A Debut Participation under the Sign of “Shared Horizons”
For its first participation in Art Genève, La Galerie 38 made a strong impression with an ambitious curatorial project entitled Shared Horizons. Presented at Stand C48 from 29 January to 1 February 2026, this inaugural presence at the Geneva fair marked a strategic milestone in the gallery’s international development, powerfully affirming its position at the crossroads of African and European art scenes.
An Exceptional Triptych: Konaté, Toguo, Cissé
For this debut, La Galerie 38 chose a rigorous and thoughtfully conceived curatorial proposal, bringing together three major figures of contemporary African art: Abdoulaye Konaté, Barthélémy Toguo, and Soly Cissé.
Under the title Shared Horizons, the exhibition placed into dialogue three singular practices, three generations, and three geographies. Though deeply rooted in specific cultural contexts, their works resonate with universal concerns: memory, spirituality, ecology, exile, identity hybridisation, and societal transformation.
This triptych of rare intensity unfolded within the fair as a plural and compelling vision of inventive and forward-looking African artists fully engaged with the global contemporary discourse.
Abdoulaye Konaté: Textile as Spiritual Fresco
A major figure on the international scene, Abdoulaye Konaté presented monumental textile works, including Motifs du Maghreb en symphonie bleue (2025) and Motif Touareg / Arkilla Kerka – sur fond ocre 2 (2025). An undisputed master of textile-based installation, Konaté composes vast chromatic surfaces from bazin fabric, interweaving Malian heritage, political consciousness, and spiritual depth.
His works, held in prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and the Tate Modern in London, embody a rare ability to transform textile material into a space of visual meditation and ethical engagement.
At Art Genève, their imposing presence structured the stand, offering visitors a moment of contemplation within the dynamic environment of the fair.
Barthélémy Toguo: Engagement between Poetry and Politics
A multidisciplinary artist, Barthélémy Toguo develops a profoundly committed practice in which the intimate and the political converge. Recent paintings, glazed ceramics from the Balade Marocaine series, and acrylic and ink compositions testified to the vitality and formal freedom of his research.
Exhibited notably at the Centre Pompidou, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and the Musée du Louvre, Toguo addresses themes of borders, environment, identity, and exile with remarkable expressive force.
His presence throughout the fair constituted a highlight of this first participation. The talk led by Adelina von Fürstenberg as part of the Art Genève Art Talks programme was met with notable success, generating a dense and stimulating exchange on the artist’s trajectory, his engagement, and the contemporary issues that inform his work.
This conversation deepened essential themes—borders, environment, memory, and the human condition—while offering the public a more intimate and analytical reading of his practice. Such moments of dialogue and reflection fully embody the gallery’s commitment: to make each fair a space for encounter, critical thought, and transmission, beyond the mere presentation of works.
Soly Cissé: Contemporary Mythologies and Hybridities
With Soly Cissé, the stand opened onto a richly layered pictorial universe populated by hybrid figures, shaped by tensions between tradition and modernity. Works such as Le poulain blanc (2024) and pieces from the Cohabitation series revealed the artist’s technical diversity—oil, acrylic, collage, mixed media—as well as the symbolic depth of his visual language.
Represented in major collections including the Centre Pompidou and the Fondation Dapper, Cissé occupies a pivotal place in the redefinition of contemporary African narratives. At Art Genève, his work entered into a dynamic interplay of contrasts and formal echoes with those of Konaté and Toguo.
A Strategic Debut
This first participation in Art Genève forms part of La Galerie 38’s broader dynamic of international expansion and consolidation, with spaces in Geneva, Casablanca, and Marrakech. It reaffirms the gallery’s determination to strengthen bridges between African and European artistic scenes while defending a demanding, engaged, and resolutely forward-looking curatorial line.
The critical and public success encountered during this edition confirms the relevance of this positioning and opens new perspectives for institutional and private collaborations alike.
