African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab) Network

The African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab) is an international network initiated by the Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) and Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation, aimed at fostering collaboration among African arts libraries, archives, artists, publishers, and members of the AAL Lab Affiliates Network. The Network invites global institutions holding African and Afro-diasporic art collections to contribute to the strengthening of African-led infrastructures and professional capacities through knowledge exchange, co-curation, joint research, and capacity-building initiatives.

In its inaugural cycle, the AAL Lab and Affiliates Network will be incubated within Re:assemblages, a roaming, multi-year programme led by G.A.S. and Y.S.F. that is designed to foster experimentation and collaboration within African art libraries. The programme supports and deepens connections between artists, publishers, and research institutions working with art libraries and archives across Africa, while also serving as a meeting ground for dialogue on African and Afro-diasporic art archives among diverse institutions and publics in international contexts. Insights gathered through participant responses will inform and shape the Network’s activities within the Re:assemblages programme.

At the centre of this initiative are the AAL Lab Convenings, titled Contemporary Art and Archive Practices—a series of public events that bring together the African Arts Libraries Lab, its Affiliates Network, and wider audiences to engage in research-sharing and dialogue on contemporary art and archival practice. Informed by the conceptual threads of Re:assemblages 2025–26—Ecotones, The Short Century, Annotations, and The Living Archive—each convening features reflections from invited speakers and the AAL Lab’s inaugural cohort alongside contributions from the broader public.