AfriKin Art Fair opens its 12th edition at Maison AfriKin in North Miami on November 29, 2026, with GRIOT: Urgent Storytelling for Our Times. The exhibition of artists of African heritage is open to the public daily from November 30 through December 6, the final day of Miami Art Week.
Key Takeaways
- GRIOT is open to the public daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., November 30 through December 5, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 6.
- The exhibition features artists of African heritage from more than 35 countries and territories, curated by Joseph L. Underwood, Ph.D., of Kent State University.
- AfriKin reports that its 2025 fair drew 8,955 visitors and paid $97,800 directly to participating artists.
- Actress and collector CCH Pounder receives the 2026 AfriKin Award of Excellence at the opening vernissage on November 29.
- African Fashion Week Miami closes the week with a REGENESIS: The African Winter runway on December 6 from 6 to 9 p.m.
AfriKin Opens Its 12th Fair at Maison AfriKin on November 29
AfriKin Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art institution based in Miami, opens the 12th edition of AfriKin Art Fair at Maison AfriKin, 1600 NE 126th Street in Downtown North Miami, inside the Scott Galvin Community Center. While much of Miami Art Week centers on Miami Beach, AfriKin Art Fair runs about 10 miles north, with its own week of exhibitions, workshops and conversations.
Visitors planning a week that spans both ends of the county can pair the fair with the free public projects outside the Miami Beach Convention Center. The fair is presented with Miami Art Week partners including the City of North Miami, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and Art of Black Miami.
GRIOT Casts Contemporary Artists as Community Storytellers
In West African tradition, a griot is a keeper of history who carries a community’s memory through story and song. AfriKin built its 2026 exhibition around that role, presenting artists working in painting, sculpture, photography, textile and other media as storytellers who remember, reflect, critique, celebrate and imagine.
“This is not an exhibition of archaic pasts, it is a powerful, living archive,” curator Joseph L. Underwood said of the show. Underwood, an art historian at Kent State University who focuses on artists from Africa and the diaspora, took over curation in 2025. AfriKin founder Alfonso D. Brooks curated the fair for a decade before that.
The theme also connects with other diaspora storytelling on view in Miami this season, including a walk-through suitcase sculpture on Lincoln Road about migration and memory.
AfriKin Reports $97,800 Paid Directly to Artists in 2025
AfriKin’s numbers explain what the fair means beyond a week of programming. The organization reports that its 2025 fair welcomed 8,955 visitors, generated $188,000 in combined marketplace sales and paid $97,800 directly to participating artists. For artists of African heritage, many of whom do not show at Miami Beach’s larger fairs, that money is a direct return from Miami Art Week.
AfriKin Foundation funds its year-round arts education, artist support and community programs through events like the fair. The nonprofit has previously raised money through Give Miami Day, the county’s annual day of giving, on November 19.
CCH Pounder Receives the 2026 AfriKin Award of Excellence
AfriKin opens the week on Sunday, November 29, with its vernissage from 6 to 9 p.m., a separately ticketed evening that previews the exhibition. The foundation will present the 2026 AfriKin Award of Excellence to actress and art collector CCH Pounder. Her collection includes more than 500 works by Caribbean, African and diaspora artists. AfriKin cited her lifetime of collecting, preserving and presenting the work of those artists.
Workshops and Talks Fill the Public Days
Beyond the gallery, AfriKin schedules hands-on and discussion programs during the week. On Tuesday, December 1, Rhythm and Soul: Mosaic Workshop runs from 1 to 3 p.m. On Thursday, December 3, the AfriKin Talks program CHANGÁ: Griot Moves runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is open to all ages and pairs a screening and a keynote conversation with a live domino activation, treating the game as both cultural practice and participatory art.
African Fashion Week Miami Closes the Week With a Winter Runway
Fashion takes over the final weekend. On Saturday, December 5, an African Fashion Week Miami pop-up runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., previewing the collections of REGENESIS: The African Winter. On Sunday, December 6, the REGENESIS runway runs from 6 to 9 p.m. AfriKin describes it as a winter collection staged in tropical Miami, with sculptural coats, futuristic knits and couture tailoring that position African design as global luxury. The runway is ticketed separately from the art fair.
Visitors Need Tickets for the Public Days
Public days at AfriKin Art Fair require tickets, available through AfriKin’s website. The exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, November 30 through December 5, and closes at 6 p.m. on December 6. Visitors using transit can reach the venue on Biscayne-routed buses to the North Miami 126th Street stop.
FAQs
When is AfriKin Art Fair 2026?
AfriKin Art Fair opens with a vernissage on November 29, 2026. The GRIOT exhibition is open to the public daily from November 30 through December 6.
Where is AfriKin Art Fair held?
The fair takes place at Maison AfriKin inside the Scott Galvin Community Center, 1600 NE 126th Street in Downtown North Miami.
What are AfriKin Art Fair’s hours?
The exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., November 30 through December 5. It closes at 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 6.
What does GRIOT mean at AfriKin Art Fair?
GRIOT: Urgent Storytelling for Our Times is the fair’s 2026 theme. It presents contemporary artists of African heritage as storytellers who keep and carry their communities’ memory.
