Library

This month’s Library Highlight showcases 23 zines from the Swahili region of Lamu, Kenya, which the African Library recently acquired. The booklets were produced in January 2025 as part of the Lamu Maktaba Ya Sanaa Project, initiated by Karin Voogd. The recently acquired zines are currently exhibited at the African Studies Centre.

From 14 to 16 March 2025 the fourth edition of the Salon du Livre Africain de Paris took place. Some 120 publishers, mostly from francophone African countries and France, were represented at the fair. Cameroon was guest of honour, and Brazil special guest. Heleen Smits of the African Library visited the fair to expand our French-language collection.

On the 10th of May, the Camerioonian-Swiss curator Koyo Kouoh unexpectedly passed away at the age of 57. She served as executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa and was recently appointed to serve as the 2026 Venice Biennale's artistic directer until her sudden death.