Kwame Mintah is co-founder of Efie Gallery. An art collector with a special interest in work from African countries, Kwame’s love of art and his foray into its business was piqued when he came across works by African photographers and filmmakers like Malick Sidibé, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Sory Sanle, James Barnor and Ernest Cole, some of whom can be found in his collection. In addition to photography, sculpture and painting, this collection also includes music. Kwame has amassed over 500 original pressings of vinyl and shellac records dating back to the 1950s, boasting the likes of Yves Klein, Fela Kuti, The Durutti Column, Abdou El Omari and Shigeo Sekito, many of which can be viewed and listened to at Efie Gallery. Kwame graduated from King’s College London with a degree in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics. He has also studied exhibition design at the Node Center for Curatorial Studies in Berlin and art business at Christie’s Education. Kwame is based between Dubai, London and Accra.
Daria Kirsanova is an art historian and art dealer based in London and Zanzibar (TZ). After she moved to London in 2007 to study at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art Daria Kirsanova has worked in a number of contemporary art galleries, including Victoria Miro Gallery, the Serpentine Galleries and Hauser & Wirth. After completing her MA in Art Theory at Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2011 she worked as an independent curator and writer and collaborated with Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India; Sazamnab Platform for Contemporary Arts, Tehran; YARAT Art Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan; at Brunei Gallery at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. She wrote for a number of publications including Frieze Magazine and IBRAAZ.