Forward Art Stories

FAS - Forward Art Stories is a private, grant making collection and curatorial platform, based between Lisbon and Luanda. Founded in 2016, FAS is driven and strengthened by its collection and the ideas behind the diverse narratives and artistic expressions of the African continent and its diaspora. To promote new readings of the collection and to highlight the relevance of thematic aspects emerging from it, FAS invites and supports artists, guest curators, writers, and critics, to collaborate with the collection and publishing program. Through international and institutional partnerships and projects, our ambition is to disseminate, circulate and discuss the works from the collection. 

FAS supports the recognition of artists as a member of the Delfina Foundation Network of Africa Patrons and of the Yinka Shonibare Foundation, as well as through the donation of works to institutions such as TATE and the Centre Pompidou. Recently, FAS became a member of the World Art Foundations organization.

Other initiatives over the recent years include partnerships with Gasworks, Greenhouse – the official Portuguese representation for the Venice Biennale 2024, La Biennale de Lubumbashi, PhotoEspaña, and Kadist. The collection is associated with recent publications and editions such as Atlantica by Hangar Books, envisioning the expansion of the canon of Western culture and enhancing knowledge of the African visual arts.