Partnerships | Meems × Ed Cross Fine Art

Why

It began as a conversation, not a contract.

The partnership was born at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, over a shared appreciation for artists who explore identity, belonging and imagination through lenses that are at once deeply personal and entirely universal.

What followed was not a distribution agreement. It was the recognition that the Arab world had become home to a sophisticated, fast-growing ecosystem of collectors, institutions and curators actively seeking work that speaks across geographies, and that this roster of artists belonged in that conversation.

This is the first time a Middle East-based cultural strategist leads the regional positioning of artists represented by Ed Cross Fine Art. Not as a reseller. As a curatorial and strategic partner.

Jerry Buhari in the studio — Jerry Buhari

Ugonna Hosten in the studio — Ugonna Hosten

In the studio · October 2025Jerry Buhari and Ugonna Hosten at work in the weeks before 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. The fair where this partnership began.

Ed Cross Fine Art

London · Founded 2009

A pioneering force in the international recognition of artists from underrepresented geographies. A former publisher and artist turned gallerist, Ed Cross has spent over twenty years championing artists from Africa, the global south and their diasporas, many now held in major museum collections, biennales and institutional exhibitions. A consistent presence at 1-54, and known for curating with integrity.

Meems

Dubai · Curatorial & cultural strategy

Founded by Myriam Djelouat Benaroya, who has lived and worked across the Arab world for over two decades, building long-standing relationships with collectors and advising luxury brands, hospitality groups and cultural institutions on how to position art not as decoration, but as lasting narrative and cultural value.

Meems × Ed Cross Fine Art is not a collaboration. It is a cultural bridge built with intention, a redefinition of how, and where, contemporary art connects.

In their words