About

Accessible African Art

An online gallery grounded by physical exchanges, Kendeja Collective partners directly with artists of African descent to sell, contextualize, and exhibit their artworks — while empowering African art appreciators to become art collectors.

Our Vision

Kendeja Collective fosters sustainable connections to African heritage and international engagements with African diasporic art. Our emphasis is that African art cultivates agency, collectivity, advancement, and innovation for Africa and its diaspora.

Our Context

The National Cultural Center of Liberia opened in 1964 over a century after Liberia had become the first republic in Africa in 1847. In true Liberian form, the Center was referred to endearingly as Kendeja. Physically and symbolically, Kendeja could not survive the fourteen years of civil wars in Liberia and since its destruction, no national cultural center has been erected in its wake. While Kendeja Collective cannot replace what was, the intention is to offer something more, through a platform inspired by the possibilities of a contemporary Liberian cultural center, that acknowledges and practices what artistic development has done and can do for Liberia, for Africa, and for Africa’s diaspora.

Our Impact

10% of proceeds from Kendeja Collective’s sales supports art and culture organizations whose missions and programming significantly engage artists of African descent.

Our Founder

Nectar Knuckles is the Founder and Director of Kendeja Collective. Born to Liberian parents in America, her desire to cultivate connections to Africa for Africans living abroad—through art—engendered the formation of Kendeja Collective. A PhD student in Art History at Princeton University with museum curatorial experience, she is interested in art’s capacity to inspire, challenge, and validate communities, as well as to innovate approaches towards realizing development in African countries.Nectar Knuckles

Nectar Knuckles

Context

Museum quality descriptions

Acquisitions

Connecting artists and collectors

Flexible Payments

Interest-free monthly plans