Terms of Use

These are the terms under which you use Art Kelen — as a collector, an artist, or a member of the Circle. They're written to be readable rather than impenetrable, but they're still a contract between you and us, and they're governed by French law.

Art Kelen is a cultural platform operated by Daffa Konaté as a sole proprietorship registered in France. The platform exists to connect artists, collectors, and cultural professionals around contemporary African art. It is composed of a marketplace where independent artists sell their work, the Circle — a membership community — and consultancy services led by Daffa.

By using Art Kelen in any of those capacities, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree to them, the service is not available to you.

You must be at least eighteen years old to create an account, place an order, or list a work. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under that age, and if we discover that an account has been created in violation of this rule, we close it. You're responsible for keeping your login credentials safe and for any activity that takes place under your account. If you suspect your account has been used by someone else, write to us and we'll secure it.

We may suspend or close an account that violates these terms, the law, or the rights of others. When we do, we explain why, and we delete personal data on the same terms set out in our privacy policy.

The marketplace is where independent artists list and sell their work. When you buy a work, you are buying it from the artist, not from Art Kelen. We act as an intermediary: we host the listing, take the payment on the artist's behalf, and release the funds to them once the work has been delivered. We take a ten-percent commission from each sale to operate the platform.

This means that the contract of sale is between you and the artist. We're responsible for the platform itself — that it runs, that the payment system is secure, that the listings reflect what the artists submit — but we are not the legal seller of the works themselves.

When you place an order, payment is processed by Stripe under their own terms. Funds are held in escrow until the artist ships the work and the carrier confirms delivery. We track each shipment. Once delivery is confirmed, the funds are released to the artist, minus our commission, and the sale is complete.

Prices are shown in the currency you've selected, inclusive of applicable taxes where required. Shipping costs are calculated at checkout based on the destination and the carrier the artist uses. The artist is responsible for shipping the work in a condition fit to be sold.

French consumer law gives buyers a fourteen-day right of withdrawal on most distance purchases. This right does not apply to original, unique works of art, which fall under the exception in article L221-28 of the Consumer Code as goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalized. For editions, prints, and other reproducible works, you have fourteen days from delivery to withdraw, in which case you return the work to the artist at your own cost and they refund the price.

Returns and refunds for editions are handled directly by the artist. If a withdrawal request goes unanswered, write to us and we'll intervene.

The Circle is our membership community. Free membership gives access to a curated selection of editorial content and event announcements. Paid memberships unlock early access to listings, members-only events, and other perks described on the Circle page. Paid memberships renew monthly until you cancel them.

You can cancel at any time from your account, and the cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. We do not refund partial months. If a payment fails, we attempt to retry it; if it continues to fail, we downgrade your account to free membership without notice.

Daffa Konaté offers curatorial and cultural consultancy services — exhibition design, gallery management, interior art curation, event production — directly to institutions and private clients. These services are commissioned separately from the platform, under terms agreed with each client. Any consultancy engagement is governed by the contract signed with the client, not by these terms of use.

If you list a work on Art Kelen, you confirm that you are the author of the work or the legitimate rights-holder, that you have the right to sell it, and that the work does not infringe anyone else's copyright, trademark, or other rights. You confirm that the description, photographs, and edition information are accurate. You agree not to list anything illegal, hateful, or offensive.

If we receive a credible claim that a listing infringes someone else's rights, we remove it while we investigate. Repeat violations end the artist's account.

We do our best to keep the platform running reliably and the data secure, but we don't guarantee that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. We are not liable for the works themselves — their authenticity, their condition on arrival, their fit with your space — these are the artist's responsibility. We are liable for the platform itself, within the limits set by French law, which does not allow us to exclude liability for our own gross negligence or willful misconduct, and does not allow us to limit your statutory rights as a consumer.

These terms are governed by French law. Any dispute arising from them, after a good-faith attempt at amicable resolution, falls under the jurisdiction of the courts of Paris — subject to your statutory rights as a consumer to bring proceedings in your country of residence. As a consumer, you are also entitled to use the European Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr and to refer disputes to a consumer mediator.

For any question about these terms, write to meetdaffa@art-kelen.com.