ART COMES FIRST
PRACTICE &
RESPONSIBILITY
How we work matters.
Art Comes First is a creative practice working across fashion, art and culture. The way we make, collaborate and exchange knowledge is as important to us as the work that results from it.
Our approach has developed through years of working across different countries, disciplines, crafts, communities and cultural contexts. Responsibility is therefore not treated as a separate initiative, but as something that informs how projects are conceived, developed and shared.
RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH PROCESS
Creative work carries responsibilities, to the people involved in making it, to the cultures and knowledge it draws from, and to the resources required to bring it into the world.
Our approach is guided by a set of working principles rather than a fixed formula.
CULTURAL RESPECT
We approach cultural references through research, dialogue and lived exchange, recognising the histories, communities and individuals connected to them.
COLLABORATION
ACF has always been built through collaboration. Artists, designers, craftspeople, musicians, makers and cultural practitioners are contributors to the creative process.
FAIR CREATIVE EXCHANGE
We believe creative labour should be recognised and compensated, with clear roles, expectations and terms established wherever possible.
CONSIDERED PRODUCTION
We favour considered production over unnecessary volume, exploring limited editions, existing materials, specialist making, repair and reinterpretation where appropriate.
PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES
DIFFERENCE IS PART OF THE PRACTICE
Art Comes First was formed through different cultural histories, disciplines and perspectives coming together.
That continues to shape how we work.
We seek to create environments where different voices can contribute meaningfully — across generations, backgrounds, disciplines and geographies — without reducing those differences to a visual gesture or marketing position.
For us, inclusion becomes meaningful through the process: who participates, whose knowledge is valued, who is given space and who has the opportunity to contribute.
KNOWLEDGE & EXCHANGE
KNOWLEDGE SHOULD TRAVEL
Education and exchange have long been part of the ACF practice.
Through workshops, talks, educational programmes, studio encounters and collaborations with institutions and independent cultural spaces, we share knowledge accumulated through fashion, tailoring, art, music, design and creative direction.
We see that exchange as reciprocal. Working with students, emerging creatives, craftspeople and different communities continually changes how we understand our own practice.
CULTURE & COMMUNITY
CREATING SPACE FOR EXCHANGE
Our work often extends beyond conventional commercial environments.
Projects, installations, workshops and cultural programmes have allowed ACF to create spaces where fashion, art, music, education and community can meet.
From Black Super Market and our work within cultural institutions to workshops and independent creative spaces, these projects use the networks and experience developed through ACF to create opportunities for exchange beyond the work itself.
PRACTICE IN ACTION
BLACK SUPER MARKET
Community · Circularity · Independent Making
A travelling cultural platform bringing together independent designers, makers, artists and creative communities.
1-54 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART FAIR
Culture · Installation · Creative Exchange
Installations and cultural interventions connecting fashion, art, craftsmanship and contemporary African creative practice.
WORKSHOPS & EDUCATION
Knowledge · Mentorship · Exchange
Workshops, talks and educational programmes sharing creative knowledge across generations and disciplines.
AN ONGOING RESPONSIBILITY
A PRACTICE THAT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE
We do not consider responsibility something that can be completed or reduced to a list of claims.
Materials change. Production systems change. Collaborators change. The places and communities in which we work change.
Our responsibility is to continue questioning how the work is made, who participates in making it, what resources it requires and what remains after it is finished.
This page reflects our current working principles and will continue to evolve alongside the practice.
