For a variety of historical, political and economic reasons, many of the important collections and productions of African art today are located outside of Africa. Consider:

- The major historic collections of African Art are owned by institutions and private collectors in the United States and Europe
- There is no single, major institutional collection of contemporary African art anywhere in the world;
- Significant exhibitions of African art, historic or contemporary, developed by major North American and Western European museums rarely tour the African continent;
- There exists no single, major institution dedicated to research on the contemporary arts and cultural practices of Africa and the African world;
- Only small and intermittent artist-in-residency programmes exist on the African continent;
- Africa is suffering a significant "brain drain" in the creative field, as performers, visual artists, authors, curators, choreographers and scholars, lacking means and infrastructure to create at home, look and increasingly, move to the "North" in search of funding and appropriate work and exhibition spaces; and
- Exceedingly few institutions globally, outside (often highly restricted) university departments, take a multidisciplinary approach to African arts, culture and heritage.

As a result, Africans living on the Continent have limited access to their own artistic heritage and to works created by contemporary African artists - visual and performance.