ISE - DA

13/03/2026

Members of ISE-DA's New Collectors' Program joined our inaugural Temperature Check trip to São Paulo last September — a week immersed in African diasporic art and culture, connecting with international collectors, curators, and artists across the diaspora.

ISE-DA's New Collectors' Program assists Black professionals with building their art collections with curated resources, dedicated art advisory and collection strategy, and access to acquiring works by Black artists across the diaspora. Members of our program receive priority access to our Temperature Check research trips and further opportunities.

Enrollment for Spring/Summer 2026 is now open and closes Monday, March 16th.

🔗 Link in bio to join.

26/02/2026

Notes from Marrakesh.

Earlier this month, ISE-DA traveled with a member of our New Collectors Program to attend the Marrakesh edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Having previously engaged with the fair’s London and New York editions, the invitation to Marrakesh marked our first encounter with an art fair on the African continent.

In addition to the fair, the visit included institutional and cultural site visits to Le MAP – Musée des Arts de la Parure, MACAAL, and the Montresso Foundation, where we reconnected with Brazilian artists-in-residence first met in São Paulo last year.

Expanding our perspective on the work of Black Moroccan artists and the local contexts shaping contemporary practice, the trip served as a welcome continuation of ISE-DA’s ongoing field research across the African diaspora.

Experiences like this inform our advisory work and ensure our community remains connected to the cultural and market ecosystems shaping African and diasporic art globally.

24/02/2026

As we mark the completion of the third year of the New Collectors Program at ISE-DA, this Black History Month has been a moment to reflect on the importance of collecting.

At a time when Black history is increasingly challenged or diminished, individual collectors play an important role in sustaining cultural memory and advancing Black cultural production.

What began for many members as a thoughtful entry into collecting has evolved into sustained engagement: building relationships with artists and galleries globally and beginning to acquire work that reflects personal mission, cultural context, and diasporic connection.

Over the past three years, members have taken early steps toward building collections centered on Black artists. They have acquired works by artists exhibiting in institutional shows throughout the United States and internationally.

Through .co , our international initiative, members have also explored the cultural parallels across the African diaspora and how Black art intersects with local histories, socio-political realities, and movements for self-determination.

At ISE-DA, we approach collecting beyond individual transactions — as a practice of cultural stewardship that prioritizes cultural understanding, community responsibility, and sustained engagement across the diaspora.

We remain committed to strengthening Black patronage and supporting the networks that sustain cultural production.

We hope this Black History Month has been meaningful, and we look forward to continuing our support of Black collectors and artists.

24/02/2026

As we complete the third official year of ISE-DA’s New Collectors Program, Black History Month offers a moment to reflect on the growth of our community and the role collectors play in shaping and preserving cultural legacy.

At a time when Black history is increasingly challenged or removed, expanding Black patronage is more essential than ever. Over the past three years, our members have begun building collections centered on Black artists, developing relationships across the global art ecosystem, and acquiring work that reflects personal mission, cultural context, and diasporic connection.

Several artists whose work has been acquired by members have been included in institutional exhibitions across the United States and internationally.

Through .co , our international initiative, members have also explored the historical continuities across the African diaspora and the intersections of art, history, and movements for liberation.

At ISE-DA, collecting is approached beyond individual transactions — as a practice of cultural stewardship prioritizing context, enduring relationships, and active engagement across the diaspora.

We remain committed to strengthening Black patronage and supporting the networks that sustain cultural production.

Happy Black History Month.

19/04/2025

Closing today! Towards a m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶ loving praxis, we cast seeds into the darkness by Alberta Whittle

Location: Nicola Vassell Gallery at 138 Tenth Avenue New York, NY 10011. 

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Pictured: 

Installation Photos by Lance Brewer

Terra Nullius is not a Defence, 2025

Portals for New Beginnings (Indigo Heartbeats), 2025 

Our Breath is the Coil that Connects Us, 2025

Through a series of collaged paintings, watercolors, sculptures, and video, Whittle has created a group of works that, through their variegation and visual abundance, respond to the uncertainty of our times by reaffirming love, intimacy, and connection as necessary acts of resistance. Informed by her study of pre-colonial history, Whittle’s interdisciplinary practice has long been focused on developing hybrid forms that encourage historical curiosity while also rehabilitating our capacity for interspecies relationships not grounded in exploitation. In thinking about the degradation of togetherness and collectivity in our contemporary moment, Whittle has fashioned the term ‘motherful’ to express an expanded, genderless sense of care and support between people and species more generally, a concept her works enact through their formal relationships and material complexity.

19/02/2025

Interested in collecting Black art and learning about the global Black art ecosystem? Sign up for our Program! The window to join our New Collectors’ Program this Spring opens Monday, February 24 and closes on March 27th.

If you would like to be notified when the sign up window opens, fill out our interest form. 🔗 link in bio 🔗

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Pictured: Our New Collectors’ Program walk through of Lewinale Havette’s incredible show “Mami Wata: The Story of Migration, Religion, and Identity” with Ciera Britton at Palo Gallery.

“Curated in partnership with Cierra Britton Gallery at Palo Gallery, Havette’s exhibition “Mami Wata: The Story of Migration, Lost Religion, and Female Identity” reflects the intricacies of identity within a new cultural context, resonating with themes of displacement and the search for self-discovery among West African migrant women. Through portraiture, narrative, and iconography, Havette invites viewers to contemplate the intersections of migration, memory, spirituality, and female identity as they evolve across time and space”.

For information about our New Collectors’ Program, and to join future events follow the 🔗 link in our bio 🔗

12/02/2025

✨ Don’t miss your chance to see Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now at The Met before it closes next Monday! ✨

From the Met “This exhibition examines how Black artists and other cultural figures have engaged with ancient Egypt through visual art, sculpture, literature, music, scholarship, religion, politics, and performance. In a multisensory exploration of nearly 150 years of artistic and cultural production—from the 19th century to the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s to the present day—the exhibition includes nearly 200 works of art in a wide range of media”.

05/02/2025

At ISE-DA, every month is Black History Month, and nothing makes us happier than the community we’ve built across the African diaspora. From conversations with Tschabalala Self and Brandon Blackwood to gallery and studio visits, global art fairs including the Bahamas, our founder’s cultural immersion in São Paulo with Latitudes, and more, 2024 was all about deepening and growing this community with care and intention.

We are incredibly grateful for the vibrant network we’ve cultivated and the relationships that continue to strengthen across the globe. As we look ahead to 2025, we’re excited to keep expanding and engaging with you. Stay tuned—there’s so much more to come!

19/09/2024

17/09/2024

ISE-DA's New Collectors' Program is now open for membership!

Our program is a membership for Black professionals interested in art collecting. Assisting Black professionals with acquiring, understanding, and supporting Black cultural production, our program provides a space to learn more about the process of art collecting and the wider art ecosystem. Our program includes events such as private studio visits, exclusive gallery tours, and access to available work by Black artists globally.

Through our program, ISE-DA has helped Black professionals acquire/commission works from Black artists from countries including Haiti, Senegal, Tokyo, Nigeria, and the United States.

The sign-up window to join for Fall/Winter 2024 closes on October 10th, 2024, or until the program is at capacity.

Sign up link in bio 🔗

Pictured: ISE-DA New Collectors Program Tour at Sotehbys, Spring 2024.

13/09/2024

Last Thursday, in partnership with , ISE-DA hosted a special event titled "Tschabalala Self and Brandon Blackwood on Black Art, Collecting, and Cultural Stewardship" to launch our new initiative Temperature Check. In a panel moderated by curator and writer Jenée-Daria Strand ( ), visual artist Tschabalala Self ( )and fashion designer/collector Brandon Blackwood ( ) spoke about Black art and collecting, and shared their perspectives on creative friendships and growing Black cultural production. We were honoured to have both Tschabalala and Brandon speak about their respective creative careers, and how the collector and artist relationship blossoms over time. Thank you also to Jenée for sharing her expertise and moderating our event.

Our event brought together members of MoMA's Black Arts Council and Alvin Ailey's Young Patrons Circle, and a community of Black collectors, professionals, curators, and more to discuss the importance of cultivating Black collectors and supporting the global Black art ecosystem. ISE-DA's Temperature Check initiative does exactly that: it documents and assesses the growth of Black cultural stewardship across the diaspora.

Thank you so much to our sponsors

Learn more about Temperature Check by visiting the link in our bio 🔗

23/03/2024

In January, ISE-DA team members and traveled to Trinidad for to engage with the Black artistic landscape across the island. We were welcomed into artist 's studio, where we explored the inspirations behind his paintings that bridge abstraction and figuration.

wrote about the studio visit for Elephant. Read more via the link in our bio 🔗