From Mallorca to Mali: a passion for Africa and its talents

Majorcan collector and patron Mercedes Vilardell studied law at the University of Barcelona, starting her professional career between Madrid and London, before devoting herself completely to her passion for art. Twenty years after graduating, she obtained a master's degree in Contemporary Art at the same university and studied Asian and African art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London university. She worked for a period in a gallery in Milan and then at the Centre d'Art Contemporain in Geneva, where she worked alongside the director during his appointment as head of the Biennale in Istanbul. Over the years, Mercedes has consolidated her role in the international cultural scene, holding positions in various institutions such as the Tate, where she is chair of the African Acquisitions Committee and member of the International Council of the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, as well as being a trustee of Gasworks London. We have known each other for many years and I have had the privilege of working with her on the boards of some of these institutions. Mercedes is particularly committed to supporting African art and promotes artists, curators and museum professionals from the continent through grants and residency programmes. She is on the board of the NESR Art Foundation in Luanda, Angola, of the NGO Earshot founded by Lawrence Abu Hamdan and is a sponsor of the Rencontres of Bamako in Mali and of the Lubumbashi Biennial in Congo.

La collezionista e mecenate Mercedes Vilardell.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ACQUISITION? My first two acquisitions were a work by Moshekwa Langa and a drawing by Francis Alÿs. Both were invited to the Istanbul Biennial and also exhibited at the Centre d'Art Contemporain in Geneva.

When AND HOW DID YOU START COLLECTING ART? I started around 1998 and for many years I focused almost exclusively on works on paper.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY WHICH ARTISTS OF THE PAST TO BE DISCOVERED AND WHICH EMERGING ARTISTS TO BE SUPPORTED TODAY? Of the artists from the past, I think that the Spanish artists Susana Solano and José María Sicilia, she a sculptor, he a painter, both very well known in the 1980s, deserve renewed attention today. Among the emerging artists, I would like to point out Felix Shumba (Zimbabwe), Sandra Paulson (Angola) and Claudia Pagès (Spain).

“Untitled (Red Suitcase)” 2025, di Kader Attia, artista franco-algerino noto per la sua pratica multidisciplinare radicata nel pensiero decoloniale. La valigia è metafora del passato svelato e del futuro ancora da scrivere. (© Kader Attia. Courtesy KADER ATTIA and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London. Photo by Studio Kukla)

TELL US THE REASONS FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO AFRICAN AND EASTERN ART? My love for African art began indirectly thanks to the Majorcan painter Miquel Barceló, who opened the doors of his home to me. I made several trips to Africa, a continent that immediately fascinated me, and it was there that I began to discover photography, visiting Malick Sidibé's studio and taking part in the Rencontres in Bamako, Mali. When I moved to London, the Tate had just established its Africa acquisitions committee, which I joined mainly to learn. From there began my involvement with independent spaces, projects and biennials on the African continent, interesting realities that often receive very little support.