Selection Committee 2026

Elana Brundyn is a leading fine art and cultural consultant based in Cape Town, South Africa, with more than two decades of experience at the highest levels of the international art world. She played a pivotal role in the launch of two of Africa’s most significant cultural institutions, Zeitz MOCAA and the Norval Foundation.

Recognised for her ability to foster meaningful cultural dialogue, she works at the intersection of corporations, collectors, artists, curators, and institutions worldwide. Elana currently serves on several boards, including the In Residence Foundation, Aspire Art, and the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust, and sits on the Standard Bank Visual Arts Committee. She is also the founder of Art House Collection, an initiative that combines curated luxury accommodation with purpose-driven travel and immersive art experiences.

With a career spanning museum building, cultural business strategy, and leadership, Elana brings a unique perspective on how art can shape legacy, purpose, and global dialogue.

Frédérique Chapuis has devoted most of her professional career to photography and to the promotion of image-based artistic practices. A journalist at Télérama for more than three decades, she has consistently championed artists and photographic scenes that have remained underrepresented.

She contributed to the conception and production of The Anthology of African Photography with Revue Noire and founded the association Marie-Louise & Fils, dedicated to the promotion of African photographers. A discoverer of overlooked talents such as Oumar Ly and Adama Sylla, she has led masterclasses bringing together photographers and professional journalists from across the African continent.

She has also worked extensively to highlight and preserve the photographic archives of African studio photographers. Today, she collaborates with the collective Lost Memory Archive Senegal, which is dedicated to safeguarding and preserving Senegalese photographic studios.

Mamadou-Abou Sarr is an international financier, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and President of V-Square Quantitative Management, a Chicago-based investment firm specializing in quantitative investing. Beyond finance, Mamadou is deeply engaged in philanthropy and civic leadership, serving on the boards of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Nature Conservancy Illinois Chapter, among others. He is also the co-founder of the Sarr Prize, established in partnership with Les Beaux-Arts and Villa Albertine to support artistic excellence. In recognition of his contributions to the arts, the French government honored him as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) in 2022.

Eve Therond is an independent art advisor, writer, and curator based in New York, with a distinctive expertise in contemporary African art and its diasporas. Over the past 15 years, she has established herself as a trusted voice in the art world, blending her journalistic background with a keen intuition to identify outstanding artists and curate distinguished art collections worldwide. She has played a key role in the development of the Sindika Dokolo Collection, one of the most prominent collections of African art. She previously co-founded and served as editor-in-chief of Whitewall, a leading contemporary art magazine, further solidifying a reputation for connecting artists, collectors, and cultural institutions. Her work reflects a deep commitment to championing cultural diversity, and empowering underrepresented voices in the creative industry.

Ousseynou Wade, advisor to the Director of the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar, is a specialist in cultural policy and arts management. A former technical advisor to the Ministry of Culture, he served as Secretary General of the Dakar Biennale for six editions.

Through his role in organizing the Biennale, he has followed and supported numerous artists from across the African continent and its diaspora. The event has also fostered major international exchanges, including creative residencies dedicated to design and symposia focused on the development of art criticism in Africa.

Committed to nurturing critical reflection on contemporary African art, he founded Afrik’Arts, a journal that has encouraged critical writing on contemporary African art while documenting artistic developments across the continent.