Born in Cotonou, Benin in 1961, Meschac Gaba moved to the Netherlands in 1996 to take up a residency at the Rijksakademie. It was there that he conceived The Museum of Contemporary African Art 1997-2002, an ambitious work, which took him five years to complete and which cemented his reputation as one of the most important African artists working today. Consisting of twelve sections - Draft Room, Architecture, Museum Shop, Summer Collection, Games Room, Art and Religion, Museum Restaurant, Music Room, Marriage Room, Library, Salon and Humanist Space - this work challenges preconceived notions of what African art is and provides a new discursive space for social and cultural interaction, critiquing the museum's value both as an institution, and as a symbol of cultural capital. The importance of this work, in the history of African art and in the lineage of critical reflections on the museum by artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Marcel Broodthaers, has been widely acknowledged in important exhibitions ranging from Documenta XI, Kassel in 2002 to Intense Proximity: La Triennale, Paris in 2012. Tate has now acquired this work. This book will be published on the occasion of the first presentation of Gaba's Museum of Contemporary African Art in its entirety in the UK. Contributions by leading scholars will place this important work in the context of the artist's oeuvre, art history and museology.

Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991) was one of the most influential Turkish artists, best known for her large-scale abstract paintings. Marrying influences from Islamic, Byzantine and Eastern art with the bold colour of the Fauvists, the geometrical dissonance of the Cubists and the precise lines of Mondrian, Zeid developed an abstract vocabulary that was a synthesis of East and West and was uniquely her own. Born in Istanbul in 1901 into a family of highly creative intellectuals, Zeid's artistic career began in the 1920s in Paris and took her to Istanbul, Berlin and Budapest, before she returned to Paris again in 1946. There she joined the Nouvelle Ecole de Paris, a melting pot movement of international artists that championed a new abstract aesthetic. In the mid-1970s Zeid moved permanently to Amman, Jordan, where she established the Royal Fahrelnissa Zeid Institute. She worked and taught there for the rest of her life; her work was exhibited widely and internationally throughout her career. This new book traces her development from the first works she made in Turkey, through her engagement with the D-Group, her later experiments with abstraction and, finally, her return to figuration. It also examines the pivotal role she played in the cross-pollination of artistic ideas in the twentieth century through her involvement with key groups and movements in diverse regions and communities. Documentary photography from the period gives new insight into the historical and art historical events that formed the backdrop to her ever evolving style. Featuring over 100 reproductions of Zeid's bold and colourful paintings, from her earlier geometric, calligraphic style to the later, more expressive portraits, the catalogue showcases the depth and range of her work. Zeid's works have recently been the subject of renewed attention, with prominent displays at the Sharjah Biennial and the fourteenth Istanbul Biennale in 2015. Accompanying an exhibition at Tate Modern, Fahrelnissa Zeid will be the only book available on the life and work of this pioneering artist and will bring her unique sensibility to the wider audience she deserves.