Crossing Borders: How East Africa's Biennale Redefined Regional Art Identity

At dawn on a September morning in 2003, Tanzanian artist Yves Goscinny stood alone in an empty gallery in Dar es Salaam, gazing at bare walls that would soon display works from across East Africa. "I remember that moment of profound possibility," Goscinny recalled years later. "We had no funding guarantees, limited international connections, and many doubted we could sustain even one edition. But we knew something crucial was missing—a platform where our region's artists could speak to each other before addressing the world."

That first modest gathering of 37 artists from Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda would evolve into the East Africa Art Biennale (EASTAFAB), now recognized as one of the most significant cultural initiatives on the continent. Its journey from precarious experiment to essential institution reveals much about the transformation of East African art over two decades—and offers a compelling alternative model for how regional biennials can function in the global South.

Before EASTAFAB, East African contemporary art development was profoundly fragmented. Colonial borders had severed ancient cultural connections, while postcolonial nationalism often prioritized nation-building over regional identity. Artists in Nairobi had more contact with London or New York than with peers in Kampala or Kigali. Training opportunities, exhibition spaces, and critical discourse varied dramatically between countries, creating uneven development and limiting cross-border dialogue.

"We were in silos," explains Kenyan artist Michael Soi, who participated in the first three editions. "Tanzania had its socialist legacy and Tingatinga tradition, Uganda was rebuilding after Amin and civil war, Kenya had a more commercial gallery scene. We weren't seeing each other's work or understanding how our distinct experiences could form a collective conversation."

EASTAFAB's intervention was both simple and radical: create a regular gathering where East African artists could engage with each other's work while collectively increasing visibility for the region's art. The rotating model—moving between different East African cities—emerged from necessity rather than design. After the 2003 and 2005 editions in Dar es Salaam struggled with limited resources, organizers realized that placing the entire burden on Tanzania's modest arts infrastructure was unsustainable.

The 2007 edition pioneered the multi-city approach, with primary exhibitions in Dar es Salaam and satellite shows in Nairobi and Kampala. This distributed model not only shared logistical challenges but created a profound shift in the biennale's identity. Each host city brought its distinct artistic community, institutional support, and cultural context, preventing any single national aesthetic from dominating the regional narrative.

For artists, the impact was transformative. Ethiopian painter Julie Mehretu, who participated in the 2009 edition before her international breakthrough, credits EASTAFAB with fundamentally reshaping her practice: "Engaging with artists from across East Africa showed me how our seemingly disparate traditions—Ethiopian modernism, Kenyan political art, Tanzanian popular painting—were asking related questions about postcolonial identity, rapid urbanization, and cultural continuity. It gave my work a regional rootedness that strengthened rather than limited its global relevance."

For young artists without international exposure, EASTAFAB offered first professional exhibition experiences and crucial connections. Ugandan sculptor Lilian Nabulime exhibited in the 2011 edition while still a student. "Before EASTAFAB, my horizon was graduation and hopefully finding teaching work," she recalls. "But showing alongside established artists from six countries expanded my entire conception of what was possible. I met my first international curator there, which led to residencies in South Africa and eventually Europe."

Beyond individual careers, EASTAFAB's most profound achievement has been nurturing a generation of cultural workers who now power East Africa's growing art ecosystem. The biennale's professional development programs have trained over 200 curators, arts administrators, and educators, many of whom have gone on to establish independent galleries, residency programs, and arts education initiatives across the region.

These multiplier effects represent what Tanzanian curator Osei Kofi calls "the invisible infrastructure" of EASTAFAB: "The exhibitions last three months, but the relationships, knowledge exchange, and institutional capacity continue developing between biennales. We're building an art ecosystem designed for our specific conditions rather than importing Western models that may not serve our needs."

This ecosystem-building approach differentiates EASTAFAB from many biennials that prioritize spectacle and cultural tourism. While mega-exhibitions like Venice and Documenta increasingly function as nodes in the global art market's calendar, EASTAFAB maintains a dual focus: presenting the region's strongest contemporary work while actively developing the conditions for artistic production and discourse.

This commitment has sometimes meant embracing necessary limitations. EASTAFAB's budget remains modest compared to major international biennials, and its exhibitions prioritize regional participation over global stars. Yet these constraints have fostered innovation, community ownership, and sustainability that many better-funded events struggle to achieve.

As EASTAFAB approaches its 11th edition in 2026, its impact on East African cultural identity is undeniable. Where separate national art scenes once developed in isolation, a dynamic regional ecosystem now flourishes, with artists, curators, and institutions regularly collaborating across borders. Younger artists increasingly identify as both nationals of their countries and members of an East African creative community—a subtle but profound shift from earlier generations.

Looking toward the future, EASTAFAB faces new challenges. Growing international interest in African contemporary art creates both opportunities and pressures. Digital platforms offer possibilities for wider engagement but risk flattening the embodied experience of physical exhibitions. Balancing grassroots community engagement with international visibility remains an ongoing negotiation.

Yet the fundamental vision that Goscinny contemplated in that empty gallery two decades ago—of art as a vehicle for regional integration and collective voice—continues to guide EASTAFAB's evolution. In a global biennial landscape often criticized for homogenization and market-driven programming, East Africa's distinctive model offers a compelling alternative: a biennial that serves artists and communities first, building foundations for sustainable cultural development rather than chasing ephemeral spectacle.

As Rwandan artist Christian Benimana reflects, "EASTAFAB taught us that we don't need to wait for validation from European or American institutions to create meaningful dialogue. We can gather on our own terms, in our own spaces, and develop artistic languages that speak from and to our specific realities—while still engaging with the wider world. That's a model worth nurturing, not just for East Africa but for the global South."