Robert Beauclerk Loder, CBE was an English businessman and art collector. He was particularly concerned with developing contemporary African art. Without Robert’s generosity of spirit and guiding hand, KHOJ and countless other initiatives around the world would not have been possible. Robert was a visionary builder of artists’ networks, creating new possibilities of dialogue and exchange in a world filled with borders. He gave us our beginnings and the freedom to rise to our own challenges.

He created opportunities for thousands of emerging artists in Africa, India and across the developing world through his initiative, the Triangle Arts Trust. An indefatigable globetrotter, he brought the likes of Chris Ofili, Subodh Gupta and David Koloane together to make art and often liberated them from the hold of a few curators and dealers. In doing so, Loder amassed an enormous collection of African art at a time when its value, present and future, was unrecognised. Some of that collection formed a large part of “South Africa, the Art of a Nation”, a recent British Museum exhibition. His wish, before his death, was that his collection, accumulated over almost 60 years, might be available in the years ahead as a teaching resource. Loder’s network of artists’ workshops today spans 41 countries and claims 4,500 artists.