C& Highlights of 2025

From incisive examinations of cultural histories to rigorous engagement with curatorial practice and diasporic gatherings, our C& Magazine editorials spanned continents and disciplines. We set out to highlight more intergenerational dialogue, industry analyses, deep dives on cinema, material culture and more. From performance and sound art to Black feminist praxis; from the improvisations of city politics to the multiple logics of archival life. What linked these texts was a shared insistence on reframing and recomposing how art and ideas circulate, resist, and envision possible futures.

2025 also deepened C& Magazine’s commitment to collaboration. We fulfilled and began editorial partnerships with Stedelijk editorial fellowship, Académie des Traces, APRIA Journal, G.A.S Foundation, Pro Helvetia, Newcomb Art Museum, 36th Bienale de São Paulo, The Museum of Black Futures in our upcoming sound section, among others. We featured a collectors’ guide, a series of events and opportunities, as well as reflections from our C& Centre of Unfinished Business partnership with ‘A World in Common’ exhibition at C/O Berlin and texts by participants of our critical writing workshops and mentorship programs led by the C& Education team from our Nairobi office.

A major milestone was the launch of the C& Cyclopedia — a living, searchable archive and tool that foregrounds multiplicity across over 11,000 texts, visuals and perspectives amassed since C&’s inception. Designed to challenge traditional archival logics and support layered research across geographies, media, and histories, the Cyclopedia represents a new chapter in how we remember, connect, and imagine together.

In looking back at this year’s texts and collaborations, we celebrate not only the ideas we’ve published, but the enduring conversations they have sparked across communities. It is not possible without our stellar network of writers, artists, curators, and thinkers who shape this living archive. As we usher in 2026 with many exciting announcements on the way, here’s a selection of our most-read texts below as loved by our readers and the team, highlighting the range of disciplines we continue to engage with.

‘Black Canadian Print Cultures: Of Quiet and Enduring Legacies’ by Afi Venessa Appiah

“Within a multilingual landscape, English and French publications operated in parallel; sometimes in tension, other times in dialogue. Beyond these dominant colonial languages, Indigenous publishing and oral traditions challenged the very notion and boundaries of print.

‘FESPACO 2025 Made Space for the Ceremony of African Cinema’ by Makella Ama

“It was elevating to see the symbiosis of cinema and a true sense of Pan-African culture. For me, film has never just been about film. It's about the ability to metaphysically travel through space and time, to engage in remembrance, to immerse myself in something other when I am losing touch with things that make me feel alive.”

‘Imagining a Future for the Arts in the US’ by Dani Brito

“Of course I’m nervous about funding,” says sculptor and designer Nifemi Ogunro. “As someone already fighting to exist in the space of Black abstraction, [I believe] these institutions deal the cards and we just play the game. I’m worried about the types of stories people will be allowed to tell. And I’m curious if through all of these initiatives, abstraction will become a more attractive space because it’s less legible and therefore more fugitive.”

‘Dignity Under Duress: Black Figuration Beyond the Global Art Market’ by Elikem Logan

“On a basic level, the numbers tell a similar story. According to London-based market analysts ArtTactic, auction sales for modern and contemporary art from Africa fell 8% in 2023 to US $79.8m, then dropped another 45% to $43.9m in 2024. But beneath the top line, the reality is complex. Sales of twentieth-century African artists remain strong. Fairs dedicated to art from Africa, like the multi-location 1-54 and the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, post healthy results.”

‘On Ghosts and The Moving Image: Edward George’s Black Atlas’ by Yaa Addae

“The more you gather images that make a claim on beauty, the more you also get the visualization of horror.”

‘Mangrove Ecologies: Grounded Forms of Questioning in the Art/World’ by Ann Mbuti

“To make matters worse, “impact” is a slippery term, especially in the context of art. What constitutes it, and who gets to decide? Is it about visibility, engagement, infrastructure, long-term transformation?”