As the Biennale explores art as a form of learning, Art Basel’s inaugural Koyo Kouoh Fellow, Aisha Aliyu-Bima, reflects on the grassroots organizations shaping a new generation of curators and artists across Africa.

GUEST Artists Space Foundation (G.A.S.) is set to take part in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Koyo Kouoh. The exhibition, titled ‘In Minor Keys’, will open for preview audiences from May 6 to 8. British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare started G.A.S. in 2019. The foundation encourages international cultural exchange through residencies, research, and collaboration across different fields. G.A.S. runs two sites in Nigeria: one in Lagos and another in Ikise, Ogun State. These locations give artists space to experiment, reflect, and develop their work over time.

On April 23rd, 2026, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Ecosystem Meet-Up, a peer learning and networking session presented as part of Archive Fever II: Stewarding Art Archives in Practice, developed in collaboration with the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA). The event was organised as an associate programme of the AAL Lab and Affiliates Network.

On April 24th, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Seeding Futures - Cultural Infrastructure Beyond the Institution in collaboration with Achille Tenkiang, founder and director of the Baldwin Institute. The convening, which explored the infrastructures of Black art and cultural memory, was held as an associate event of the AAL Lab and Affiliates Network, of which the Baldwin Institute is a member.

Earlier this month, we welcomed Kim M. Reynolds, a U.S. writer, educator, maker and recipient of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026, for an eight-week at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ. Her multidisciplinary practice spans research, literature, culinary arts, and food history, with a focus on pan-Africanism, ritual, social justice, and arts movements across the African continent and its diaspora. She is also the founder of Home Spice, a culinary project tracing the history of capsicum in Black cuisines through writing and cooking.