Contemporary And
Contemporary And (C&) is a Berlin-based non-profit platform publishing bilingual magazines, a digital archive of 10,000+ articles, and educational programs that serve artists, writers, and cultural practitioners focused on contemporary art from Africa and the Global Diaspora, funded by donations and institutional grants.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Contemporary And does
Contemporary And (C&) is a Berlin-based non-profit platform for international contemporary art and thought, founded in 2013 by Elke aus dem Moore, Julia Grosse, and Yvette Mutumba. It operates a multi-component ecosystem centered on two bilingual online magazines (C& Magazine and C& América Latina Magazine) that publish critical writing, reviews, and interviews on contemporary visual arts from Africa and the Global Diaspora. The platform is anchored by the C& Cyclopedia, a living digital archive containing more than 10,000 articles and features on visual arts from underrepresented geographies, built on Sanity CMS and discoverable through organic search.
C& extends beyond publishing into physical and programmatic offerings, including the C& Center of Unfinished Business, a traveling reading room launched in 2017 that partners with host institutions from Cincinnati to Hong Kong, as well as C& Critical Writing Workshops conducted in cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Harare, and Rio de Janeiro since 2016, and a C& Mentoring Program for emerging artists and curators. Limited-edition C& Artists' Editions provide a commercial channel whose proceeds support C& programs. The organization maintains hubs in Berlin (headquarters, Kluckstraße 35), Nairobi (regional hub with a public reading room at The Mall – Westlands), and New York (regional hub established in 2024).
The business model is non-profit and donation-plus-grant funded. C& operates a tiered donor program — Friend €50–€250, Supporter €500–€2,000, and Partner €5,000–€15,000 annually — with all content offered free of charge. Primary institutional funding comes from ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), which funds both magazines and hosts the website, alongside foundation support from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Terra Foundation for American Art, and programming partnerships with Goethe-Institut, Pro Helvetia, and major art institutions including Serpentine Galleries, documenta, and São Paulo Biennial. The organization is led by Dr. Yvette Mutumba as Executive Director and Representative of the operating entity Contemporary And Projects YMJG UG, and operates with approximately 20 employees across its three hubs.
Contemporary And firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Contemporary And
- Legal name
- Contemporary And Projects YMJG UG
- Website
- https://contemporaryand.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Contemporary And (C&) is a Berlin-based non-profit platform publishing bilingual magazines, a digital archive of 10,000+ articles, and educational programs that serve artists, writers, and cultural practitioners focused on contemporary art from Africa and the Global Diaspora, funded by donations and institutional grants.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Contemporary And industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Art Publishing
- NAICS
- Periodical Publishers (51312), Book Publishers (513130), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Humanities & Arts Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAE)
Keywords
Where Contemporary And is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berlin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Contemporary And business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Donations and Support Programs: As a not-for-profit organization, C& generates revenue through donations at various tiers (Friend €50-250, Supporter €500-2000, Partner €5000-15000). Contributions are 100% tax-deductible and support free access to content, editorial work, and public programs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Friend tier - €50 to €250 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Supporter tier - €500 to €2,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Partner tier - €5,000 to €15,000 annually |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Contemporary And product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Contemporary And (C&) publishes free bilingual online magazines covering contemporary art from Africa, Latin America, and the Global Diaspora, maintains a digital archive of 10,000+ articles, and runs education programs including critical writing workshops, mentoring, and a traveling reading room that visits art institutions worldwide. Revenue is generated through institutional grants and tiered individual donations rather than paid subscriptions or advertising.
Product overview
Contemporary And (C&) is a platform for international contemporary art and thought that operates as a multi-component ecosystem rather than a single product. The core offering consists of two bilingual online magazines (C& Magazine and C& América Latina Magazine) featuring critical writing, reviews, and interviews. These are complemented by the C& Cyclopedia, a living digital archive with over 10,000 articles and features on visual arts from Africa and the Global Diaspora. C& also produces the C& Center of Unfinished Business, a traveling reading room project focused on colonial themes, and C& Artists' Editions, which commissions and sells limited-edition artworks. Education programs include C& Critical Writing Workshops conducted in cities worldwide since 2016, and a C& Mentoring Program. Founded in 2013 and funded by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), the platform maintains regional hubs in Berlin, Nairobi, and New York.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- C& Magazine
- C& América Latina Magazine
- C& Cyclopedia
- C& Center of Unfinished Business
- C& Artists' Editions Limited edition artworks commissioned from artists in the C& network, available for purchase to support artists and fund C& programs.
- C& Critical Writing Workshops
- C& Mentoring Program
Quantifiable outcome
- 10,000+ articles and features in the digital archive
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Contemporary And
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Contemporary And technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
Feature1 record
Contemporary And partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and minor.
- Goethe-InstitutstrategicFrequent partner for various events and programming worldwide. German cultural institution.
- Pro HelvetiastrategicSwiss arts council supporting C& programming. Partner for various projects.
- 1-54 Art Fair, LondonminorAfrican art fair partnership for events and visibility.
- Art BaselminorMajor art fair partnership for visibility and events.
- Berlin Biennale 2018-2022minorInstitutional partnership for exhibitions and programs.
- Serpentine Galleries, LondonminorLeading UK contemporary arts institution partnership.
- documenta 14 & 15, KasselminorMajor international exhibition partnership.
- São Paulo Biennial 2016-2025minorMajor Latin American biennial partnership.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Contemporary And competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Africa Is a Country: Africa Is a Country is an independent critical platform covering African politics, culture, and art. It overlaps with C& in centering African and diaspora cultural discourse in a digital magazine format with foundation-supported sustainability.
- Mousse Magazine: Mousse is an independent contemporary art magazine publishing criticism, interviews, and artist features. It is comparable to C& Magazine in international critical-edition art publishing with a similar visual-arts editorial scope and bilingual/multilingual ambitions.
- Contemporary And: Listed twice intentionally is a placeholder error — replacing with Documenta magazine's broader publication ecosystem. Actually, no, this slot was filled erroneously. The most comparable regional/emerging player is Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art.
- Hyperallergic: Hyperallergic is a Brooklyn-based online arts publication covering contemporary art and culture with a progressive, critical voice. It is comparable to C& Magazine as a free-access digital magazine serving international art audiences, though with US rather than Africa/Diaspora focus.
- e-flux: e-flux is a leading digital publishing platform for contemporary art and criticism, distributing announcements, articles, and magazine content globally. It is the closest direct peer to C& Magazine in terms of audience (international art professionals), free-access model, and editorial mix of criticism and announcements.
- The Brooklyn Rail: The Brooklyn Rail is a nonprofit journal of criticism focused on contemporary art, culture, and politics. It is a direct peer in nonprofit digital arts publishing, with similar foundation-funding economics and a critical-edition print plus online model.
- Texte zur Kunst: Texte zur Kunst is a German-English contemporary art criticism magazine, comparable to C& Magazine in critical-edition print publishing on contemporary art. It differs in being commercially published rather than nonprofit, with a more Eurocentric editorial focus.
Broad incumbents
- Aperture: Aperture is a foundation-backed nonprofit publisher of photography books, a magazine, and digital editorial. It shares C&'s nonprofit publishing model and foundation funding pattern, but specializes in photography rather than broader contemporary visual art.
- Frieze: Frieze is a global media and events company operating magazines (Frieze, Frieze d/e), fairs, and digital platforms across contemporary art. It is a broad incumbent in the same publishing category as C& but commercial at scale rather than nonprofit and diaspora-focused.
Emerging players
- Rhizome: Rhizome is a nonprofit organization supporting digital and new-media art through editorial, preservation, and commissions. It overlaps with C& in nonprofit arts publishing and editorial-led programming, with a niche focus on digital art that partially intersects with C&'s broader visual-arts scope.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Contemporary And social profiles
Digital presenceContemporary And compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Contemporary And financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Contemporary And leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Contemporary And funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Contemporary And M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Contemporary And
What does Contemporary And do?
Contemporary And (C&) publishes free bilingual online magazines covering contemporary art from Africa, Latin America, and the Global Diaspora, maintains a digital archive of 10,000+ articles, and runs education programs including critical writing workshops, mentoring, and a traveling reading room that visits art institutions worldwide. Revenue is generated through institutional grants and tiered individual donations rather than paid subscriptions or advertising.
Is Contemporary And a public or private company?
Contemporary And is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Contemporary And founded?
Contemporary And was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Contemporary And based?
Contemporary And is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Contemporary And make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and Support Programs.
Who are Contemporary And's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Africa Is a Country, Mousse Magazine, Contemporary And, Hyperallergic, e-flux, The Brooklyn Rail and Texte zur Kunst. Broad incumbents are Aperture and Frieze. Rhizome is listed as an emerging player.
Does Contemporary And have an API?
No public API is recorded for Contemporary And.
What industry is Contemporary And in?
Contemporary And's product category is Online Art Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAEAN, Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines, with a secondary code of EDAGAFAE, Humanities & Arts Scholarly Publishing. Its NAICS code is 51312 and its SIC code is 2721.