Art Gallery in Point E, Dakar: Inside Ge'eza's Gallery

In Point E, Ge'eza's art gallery occupies the gallery lounge of a villa at 656 avenue Birago Diop, alongside the Ethiopian restaurant, the concept store and the events space. It shows artists from East Africa, West Africa and the diaspora, with works available to buy, a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist and a price given on request. It is open to visit Tuesday to Sunday, 8am to 10pm, no appointment needed.

A gallery inside a home

Ge'eza, which means "home" in Ge'ez, is not a gallery in the classic sense, with white walls and nothing else. It is a villa where you can have lunch, drink a coffee, then walk past the works hanging in the lounge, or the other way round. That closeness changes how you look: you come across a painting without seeking it out, return to it between courses, talk about it on the way out.

Founder and director Maraki Germa Bekele built the place as a bridge between two Africas, a hub devoted to dialogue between Ethiopian and Senegalese civilisations. The gallery is one of its doors in, showing artists from East and West Africa across its exhibitions.

What is on show right now

Four works are currently on view in the gallery lounge. "Figures (2025)," by Saadio, in mixed media on canvas, with its own page listed under the artwork. "Sans titre I" and "Sans titre II," from the Lien commun hang, acrylic on canvas, 2025. And "Foule," an oil on canvas from 2025, a crowd rendered in touches of colour. The selection can change from one season to the next, as new exhibitions come through.

The house's artists

Since opening, the gallery has shown artists from several countries: Saadio, Ibou Diagne and Tampidaro from Senegal, brought together in "Lien commun," an exhibition presented by Ge'eza at the IFAN Musée Théodore Monod in October 2025; Tefy KHT and Sarah Custer-Lalanne from Madagascar, featured during "Dia Nifanena" in June 2026; Olio, a visual artist of Cape Verdean origin, shown during the Cape Verde edition of "A Country in the Spotlight" in August 2026; and Israa Hamad and Yasmeen Abdalah, shown during the Sudan edition of the same series. Pages for several of these artists are listed on the artists page.

What a visit looks like

No booking is needed to see the gallery: just come during the restaurant's hours, Tuesday to Sunday, 8am to 10pm. You can take it in alone, as a couple, or in a small group, before or after a meal, breakfast or a coffee ceremony. Give yourself a step back from a large canvas before moving closer: big formats first read as masses and colour, with detail following after.

The gallery lounge is not a separate room set apart from everything else: it is part of the villa, with sofas, natural light that shifts through the day, and visitors passing between courses. That setting gives a different pace from a museum: you can sit for a while facing a canvas, talk about it over a coffee, then come back to it before leaving. For a larger group, let the team know you are coming, especially if you are combining the visit with a meal or a coffee ceremony.

Buying a work

If a piece holds your attention, the process is simple: ask for the price from the artwork's page, the team replies on WhatsApp or by phone with the details and the certificate, then you pay by Wave, Orange Money, card or in person. The work is then collected at Point E, or shipped outside Dakar on request. Prices are given on request while the price list is not yet published. For a broader sense of what to know before a first purchase, art galleries in Dakar places Ge'eza's gallery among the other places to see art across the city.

A gallery that also welcomes artists

The gallery receives exhibition proposals throughout the year. An artist who wants to present their work can write through the contact page, choosing the subject "Partnership, artist, exhibition."

Visiting in practice

The gallery is at 656 avenue Birago Diop, Point E, Dakar, a few minutes from the Corniche Ouest and the university, with street parking available. For a group visit or a question about a particular work, write on WhatsApp to +221 78 660 07 07 or to geezacultures@gmail.com. If you are combining the visit with a meal, the restaurant serves the same hours.

Many visitors discover the gallery almost by accident, on their way to lunch or a coffee ceremony, rather than setting out specifically to see art. That is part of how the space is meant to work: nothing separates the gallery lounge from the rest of the villa, so a short pause between courses is often enough to take in a canvas properly, and come back to it again before leaving.