San Francisco’s first gallery dedicated entirely to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, the Art of Contemporary Africa (AOCA), will open next month on February 12th. The gallery, which will showcase both leading and emerging African artists who work across painting, sculpture, ceramics, installation, photography, and mixed media, is helmed by industry veteran Craig Mark and celebrated South African photographer Clint Strydom. It is based at the Minnesota Street Project in the city’s Dogpatch neighborhood.

AOCA will mark the occasion with an inaugural group exhibition “Afropop” showcasing a selection of its artists including Dr. Esther Mahlangu, who the gallery exclusively represents, as well as Ayanda Mabulu, Noria Mabasa, Willie Bester, Clint Strydom, Médéric Turay, and Samuel Allerton. The show, as does the gallery, aims to underscore Africa’s important contributions to the global contemporary art discourse and to move the continent and its breadth of voices prominently into the spotlight as more than just a place where art is made. While the gallery’s physical presence is a new development, it has already spent years participating in fairs including Expo Chicago, 1-54 New York, the Seattle Art Fair, and the Atlanta Art Fair. It is the sister gallery to The Melrose Gallery, a prominent Pan-African contemporary art gallery located in Johannesburg and also run by Mark.

“In South Africa, we embrace ubuntu, meaning ‘I am because you are.’ It celebrates the spirit of our shared humanity, connectedness, and collective responsibility,” said Mark, the gallery’s director. “San Francisco practices that spirit every day, and it’s a big reason why we made this city our home.” The AOCA joins the Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD) and the Nexus Black Arts Festival as local champions of the African diaspora’s artistic output, further cementing San Francisco as a hub for African art.