What 16 African cities taught us about who gets access and who doesn’t

From Southern Africa to East, West, and Central Africa our Photo Walks have now been held in 16 cities, where should we go next?

Author

Unpublished Africa
May 04, 2026

Welcome to African Visual Storyteller! Your weekly guide to African photographers, exhibitions, and creative opportunities.

This space exists to support visibility, connection, and real pathways for African creatives. Thank you for being part of our growing ecosystem.

African Visual Storyteller of the Week #54

Our featured storyteller this week is Rebeka Negatu 🇪🇹

Rebeka Negatu (Ethiopia) - "Daily Offering", 2025 (From Unpublished Africa's "I'd Be Empowered If..." 2026 Exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya)

Distributed Cultural Infrastructure in Africa: Lessons from Unpublished Africa Photo Week

Creative programming is often treated as events or moments, but this research on Unpublished Africa Photo Week 2025 (UAPW) positions it as infrastructure, something that can be designed to move across contexts, activate participation, and sustain cultural ecosystems over time.

Between 2024 and 2025, UAPW expanded from 3 cities to 15 cities across nine countries without centralised systems, permanent spaces, or heavy reliance on institutional funding. Instead, it worked through local partnerships, facilitator-led programming, and hybrid coordination, showing that cultural infrastructure can be distributed rather than fixed.

Across the African creative economy, demand is not limited to major capitals. In Nigeria, nearly half of participants registered outside Lagos and Abuja, indicating that access expands when delivery models are decentralised.

This reveals a structural opportunity: cultural ecosystems do not need to be built around central hubs to function or scale.

What this model offers is a shift in how cultural infrastructure is understood:

  • 📌 distributed systems that allow programming to scale without central control

  • 📌 locally embedded leadership that adapts to context rather than imposing uniform structures

  • 📌 hybrid coordination models that connect physical and digital participation

  • 📌 cost-efficient approaches that reduce dependence on large institutional funding

Without these approaches, cultural production remains concentrated and access limited. The shift this paper points to is clear: from centralised cultural systems to distributed, locally driven infrastructure that expands participation and redefines how creative economies grow.

Unpublished Africa Photo Week 2026

As we prepare for the 4th edition of Unpublished Africa Photo Week, we are looking to expand where and how the programme shows up.

We would like to know which cities you think we should be working in.

If there are creative organisations, collectives, or communities in your city that we should be connected to, please share them with us. If you are in a position to make an introduction, we would value that as well.

Thank You For Attending The Nairobi Portrait Walk 🇰🇪

Image from Nairobi Photo Walk held on 3 May 2026

It is always good to see familiar faces return and to meet new photographers coming into the space. We hope the walk gave you time to connect, to observe how others are working, and to take images that push your practice forward.

We appreciate everyone who showed up and contributed to the experience. We look forward to seeing the work that came out of it, and to having you with us again at the next walk.

Thank You For Submitting To The "How We Lead" Open Call

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reflect on this question and submit your work. You can expect to receive feedback on your submissions by the 26th of May.

We’re grateful for your participation and for sharing your perspectives with us.

Upcoming Unpublished Africa Photo Walks

Lusaka Photo Walk 🇿🇲

Lusaka Photographers 🇿🇲: We are excited to open registrations for Lusaka Photo Walk.

  • 🗓️ Date: 17 May 2026

  • ⏰ Time: 2:00 PM

Once you have registered, you will receive a link to join the Lusaka photographers community ahead of the walk, along with any final updates closer to the date.

Ce Que Goma Porte En Moi

Photo de l’Exposition “ambulants — une ou plusieurs réalités”, Goma, 2023, Joyce Kipunga.
(Published in by Unpublished Africa womens month group exhibition 2023)

Photographes de Goma 🇨🇩

Nous vous invitons à postuler pour faire partie de Ce que Goma porte en moi, une rencontre intime qui aura lieu le 30 mai en collaboration avec Huru Kama Sanaa.

Anglais:

Goma Photographers 🇨🇩

We invite you to apply to be part of Ce que Goma porte en moi, an intimate gathering taking place on 30 May in collaboration with Huru Kama Sanaa.

Submit to the Photo Walk Archive

Were you part of an Unpublished Africa Photo Walk? We’d love to see what you captured! Upload your photos to the Photo Walk Archive and help us document the journey.

Other Opportunities:

Help Us Improve What We’re Building

If you’ve joined an Unpublished Africa photo walk, exhibition, programme, or conversation, we’d really appreciate a quick Google rating and review.

It takes a few minutes, and it goes a long way in helping us build better infrastructure for African creatives.

👉 Leave a review here: https://g.page/r/CYo40kkDN_4UEBM/review

Thank you for being part of the journey and for helping shape what comes next.

➡️ Share this newsletter with a friend or colleague interested in the African creative economy!

Thank you for continuing to build with us.

More conversations, walks, and opportunities ahead.

— Unpublished Africa