This thesis explores the market for contemporary African art in London from 1995 to 2005 using case examples of artists, museums, art festivals and fairs, auctions and galleries. The study is generally bracketed by two festivals, africa 95 and africa 05, touching also on events that transpired during the intervening decade. Many artists from Africa who were working, living or exhibiting in London during this time experienced degrees of marketable success as a result of their participation or relationship with actors involved in the marketplace and in private and public institutions. However, this was not the case for all connected with the two events. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the underlying network of market systems, in a particular place and time, for work by contemporary artists from Africa, in order to frame the various points of entry into the market and, by extension, the broadening of contemporary art historical canons