Africa Now Art Gallery

“I am planning to do what I have been doing, which is to show art from Africa, work with local artists to share experiences, organize events around African culture, and bring people together around the love of learning new things.”

When visitors step into the Africa Now Art Gallery by A. K., they immerse themselves in a space of culture and class that inspires and educates the creative spirit and imagination. Annie Kadji, owner, is the Cameroon, Africa, native who showcases her very personal and visual world to South Florida.

Africa Now is a source for distinct, select and unique handcrafted authentic arts from Africa and its diaspora. Annie herself is the reason this store cultivates the euphoric aura it does. Her parents inspired her early life. She has four sisters, and her father, a lawyer, studied law in Bordeaux, France and passed away recently; her mother is a retired teacher. At age 15, as was the tradition in her family, she went to France to study at the University of Paris X Nanterre, where she earned a BA in economics and a degree in art. “I have always been interested in art as a way to bring more opportunities in one’s life, opening people to the world,” she explained. “The language I speak best is French, and I speak two African languages and a little bit of German and English.”

After completing her degrees in Paris, she worked for three years in the corporate world there, and met her husband, a Cameroonian who has studied in Switzerland. “I went back to Cameroon; we married and had four boys, who were all born in Paris since I was traveling back and forth,” she noted. “I knew I had to be available for my family, so I decided to be self employed and do what I love, which is to empower people through art. I opened an art center in Douala, Cameroon, a city where there were no museums, no art schools, no art galleries, but a lot of talented self-taught artists ready to show their talent.”

While raising her boys, she had the privilege for 15 years to build one of the best and most reputable art centers in central Africa. Her sons were about to follow the family path of studying abroad, and, at 14, her oldest son, Kenneth, went on a scholarship to play basketball and study in France. “His team went to Russia for a tournament, and he did well; we were contacted by some coaches in the United States. We wanted to make sure that his academics were not jeopardized by basketball, so we asked for the best sports academy school for him. They pointed us to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida,” she revealed. “He was young, so I ended up with Kenneth and his brother, Olliver, in Bradenton, because we didn’t want him to be by himself. This was in 2005.” Though they had left Africa, she said they did not feel lost, as they knew South Florida. Annie and her family traveled the world, and Miami, West Palm Beach and Jupiter were some of their favorite places for vacation.

Annie’s first gallery in the United States was in an artists’ community in Bradenton, the Village of the Arts. She was inspired to open a gallery because she felt the need to share African culture. “People were really interested and open to learn, and this is what I do the best. I am a teacher, a transmitter,” she voiced. “People come in my gallery and they leave with a piece of history. There is a lot of misunderstanding about Africa. The name of my gallery is Africa Now, and I show the contemporary side of Africa, but I also show the traditional side where all the new forms of art in Africa find their inspiration.” She also educates and shares how African art actually influenced Picasso and Matisse in creating Analytic Cubism in Western art. “And I am learning a lot in the process, because I meet wonderful and very knowledgeable people.”

Since her family moved to Florida in 2005, her two younger sons have joined them, and her older sons have now graduated from the University of Miami. Kenneth is a professional basketball player in Greece; Olliver is an engineer; Sten is a senior at the University of Miami; and Japhet is a freshman at Wagner University in New York. Needless to say, Annie is one proud mother!

“We have moved from Bradenton to Jupiter, and I closed my gallery in Bradenton in 2008. I met a wonderful friend, Diane McKinnie, in 2012, who introduced me to the community of Northwood Village. She owns a vintage store, Diane’s Boutique, across the street from my Africa Now Art Gallery, where I reopened in March 2014 on Northwood Road. This is a great community, full of wonderful people,” she smiled. “I am planning to do what I have been doing, which is to show art from Africa, work with local artists to share experiences, organize events around African culture, and bring people together around the love of learning new things. I am so glad to be able to do what I am doing, as you don’t easily find authentic art from Africa on display.”

Africa Now Art Gallery by A.K. is located at 508A Northwood Road, West Palm Beach. Call for information at (561) 290-5008, or visit africanowgallery.com to learn about classes on such cultural activities as head wrapping and African textiles and quilting.