TEFF NOTES: ADD TAX
on the cartography [pun-intended] of global consciousness on the valuation of art made by Black and Afro-descended artists across the continent and diaspora
Listen.
In 2019, I was invited to auction three bodies of work through the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MoCADA) here in Brooklyn. I remember submitting my work with quiet confidence and excitement—each piece, paired with a price that—at the time—felt honest. Reasonable. Grounded. But deep inside, I was screaming: HOLY SH!T - I AM AUCTIONING MY WORK!
A few days later, I received an email from the museum’s director, Amy. She thanked me for accepting the invitation to participate and then prompted me to increase my prices. I was…shocked. She didn’t say it with shame or force, but with clarity, precision and a knowing. She explained how artists—particularly those of us from historically-marginalised communities—often undervalue our work. We’ve been taught to anchor our expectations to survival and to be grateful for the opportunity to be included in spaces we have been excluded from.
So I did something I’d never done before. I tripled my asking price. Two out of three sold. One landed in the hands of a collector; the other, it’s now part of a Brooklyn-based gallery’s permanent collection.
That moment LIVES in me. It marked a significant shift—a realignment; a small, sacred rebellion against everything I’d internalised about how I should move as an artist. I learned how much I should expect, and what I should dare to ask for. It reminded me of that phrase, “know your worth, then add tax” isn’t just a clever caption; it’s a directive—a truth we should return to again and again until it no longer needs to be said aloud.
And this lesson stretches beyond the studio or auction room. Historically, we have been taught to shrink ourselves; to see our presence in certain rooms, galleries, and institutions as exceptional, rather than inevitable. To think of ourselves as small, or as “lucky” simply to enter spaces that were never built with us in mind. That conditioning runs deep. It shows up not just in the ways we value our labour, but even in the ways we’ve been taught to see the world itself.
This month, the African Union endorsed the Correct the Map campaign, which calls for replacing the distorted Mercator map projection with more accurate representations, like the Equal Earth projection. The Mercator map, widely used for centuries, shrinks Africa and enlarges Europe, reinforcing colonial-era bias about scale, power, and importance, It’s an intentional visual distortion, but also a symbolic one. It reminds us how bias is inherited and naturalised, and how easily we internalise a shrunken view of ourselves.
Correcting the map is not just about cartography; it’s about consciousness. It’s about refusing to let ourselves or our work be measured against systems designed to diminish us. It’s about exercising the fullness of the value we inherently embody—for our sake, and for the sake of our ancestors who carries us here.
So if you’re a young, Black Artist—or someone whose roots trace back to the global South, or anywhere that systems have tried to shrink your dreams—let this be your reminder. Your work doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it belongs [gatdamn it, it BELONGS]—to a broader cultural ecosystem that YOU are actively shaping. The way you value it [and yourself] sends out ripples.
✴️ TEFF THEORIES | RESOURCE MIX
Think of this as the constellation around the core — what orbits the theory. What you’re reading is just one planet. Here’s the rest of the galaxy:
🌀 MY MIX — IN THIS SEASON OF MY LIFE
Here’s how I’m currently building, offering, and evolving:
35% → Creative Consulting (language, strategy, integrity)
25% → Art & Image-making (photography, storytelling, moving image)
20% → Writing (editorials, essays, narrative development)
15% → Experiments (substack, series, surprise drops)
5% → Speaking & Teaching (guest lectures, workshops, panels)
Each of these feeds the other. If one slows, another deepens. Flexibility is the infrastructure.
🌿 THIS WEEK’S INVITATION: EXPLORE ROOTED VISIBILITY WITH CONCEPT SIGHT
This month’s thematic focus at Concept Sight is Rooted Visibility: the practice of being seen at your true scale—not as the world has tried to shrink you, but as you inherently are.
If this resonates, I invite you to join one of our 15-minute info sessions, held every Wednesday. These sessions are completely FREE and designed for group learning and inquiry. So, if you prefer a solo space, take note before signing up.
During these sessions, you’ll get clarity on the two tiers of Rooted Visibility work available:
Tier One: a foundational entry point into rooted visibility, designed for those beginning to explore how visibility, self-valuation, and creative practice intersect.
Tier Two: a deeper, more expansive tier for those ready to actively restructure how they show up in their work, relationships, and cultural ecosystems.
The sessions will help you determine which path aligns best with your current season.
✨ Sign up for an info session → [here]
Your visibility is a practice—one you can root, tend, and expand with intention.
•And with Klarna integration built in, Rooted Visibility work becomes even more accessible, removing barriers so you can choose the tier that truly aligns with you, on a timeline that feels sustainable.*
🪞 ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)
What Bears Can Teach Us About Billionaires — Read: On The Performance of Placidity by The Ultra-Rich
A new creative offering (pilot season). — Schedule a session
Intellectualism As A Form of Performing Desirability — Watch the Reel