Image archive · Link collection · Newsletter · Shop
tribal.art
tribal.art offers access to sources and collections on African art that have grown over decades. At its core are a historical image archive and an online shop featuring specialist publications and selected objects. The site also offers a curated collection of links and a newsletter about African and tribal art.
Image Archive and Postcard Collection
Image Archive
Historical photographs and postcards from Africa, as well as rare object and exhibition photographs from the Walu Gallery archive and private photo collections. Access to the holdings is expected from 2028.
Go to the image archive →
Online Shop
Publications
Selected publications on African art: reference works and monographs, exhibition and collection catalogues, auction catalogues from Hammer, Koller and Galerie Walu, as well as various magazines.
To the publications →
Online Shop
objects
Selected objects of African art, currently mainly textiles, including plush fabrics from the Shoowa people of the Congo. The selection is constantly being expanded.
To the objects →
Useful Information
Link Collection
Recommended links to associations, art fairs, institutions, museums, archives and other specialist sources on African art, for further information and research.
To the link collection →
Newsletter
News
You can receive updates on African art, auctions, exhibitions, and market developments via our newsletter upon request. It also provides information on newly acquired holdings in the image archive.
Subscribe to the newsletter →
Questions about an item?
Free information
Send us some photos of your property. You will receive an initial, non-binding assessment and suggestions for possible next steps. The inquiry is handled by African Art Advisory.
For free information ↗
Behind tribal.art
Our other pages
Behind tribal.art and these pages is Jean David. He has been in the art trade since 1986, founded Galerie Walu AG in 1998, headed the African art department at Koller Auctions from 2003 to 2014, and founded Hammer Auctions in 2016.
Auction house in Basel
Hammer Auctions
At Hammer Auctions in Basel, African cultural and everyday objects are auctioned off every month. They are described and categorized with the same meticulous care that characterizes tribal.art.
hammerauktionen.ch ↗
Estimates and expert opinions
African Art Advisory
Appraisals, expert opinions, and provenance research for classical African art, as well as inventories and estate consultations. Free information is also available through this website.
africanartadvisory.com ↗
Art from Africa and Oceania, Since 1957
Galerie Walu
Founded in Basel in 1957, this gallery specializes in art from Africa and Oceania. Its archive documents seven decades of dealing in African art.
walu.ch ↗
Regarding the term
«Tribal Art»
“Tribal Art” is a long-standing term in the international art market and primarily covers art from Africa, Oceania and the Indigenous cultures of the Americas, as well as, depending on context, parts of Asia.
tribal.art focuses on Africa, specifically on cultural and everyday objects that served a function in their societies of origin, not on contemporary African art.
Tribal.art uses the term as an established collective term, but when describing individual works, it places importance on the most accurate possible assignment of origin, culture and context.
