The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair is broadening its lens for its 14th London edition at Somerset House, running until 18 October. Alongside its contemporary programme, the fair has for the first time introduced a dedicated spotlight on Modern artists from Africa and its diaspora.

The historical strand runs through curated stand presentations and a 1-54 Presents exhibition, West Wind, devoted to pioneering mid-20th-century African artists and curated by the South African-Portuguese art historian Nancy Dantas. A Special Projects presentation titled 50:50—Artists Africa, assembled by veteran African art collector Michael Graham-Stuart, ranges across more than a century of practice, from artists active in the 1840s to the 1980s. The edition closes on 18 October, just as Frieze week's two flagship tents shut their doors.

Organisers say the addition responds to a surge of institutional attention toward African Modernism, as museums, scholars, exhibitions and biennials work to recover artists and movements long left on the periphery. Founding director Touria El Glaoui framed the edition as placing African artists where they belong: as authors of Modern and contemporary art history.

Contemporary voices remain prominent. Moroccan-born Hassan Hajjaj's My London Rockstars portrays a new generation of artists, musicians and designers shaping London's cultural scene. In another first, the Whitechapel Gallery has an institutional presence at the fair, presenting new artist editions — including works by Joy Labinjo, Veronica Ryan, Virginia Chihota, Joy Gregory and William Kentridge — in support of its Errantry Fund, which backs the representation of artists from the Global South and diasporas in the gallery's commissions and exhibitions.