The Nigerian has announced the artists and curator for his national pavilion at the Venice Biennale next year. The country’s second appearance at the international exhibition will include artists such as British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, Nigerian American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola and New York-based artist Tunji Adeniyi-Jones. Nigerian-British curator Aindrea Emelife has been chosen as curator.
The title of the pavilion is Nigerian imagination, described by Emelife as an exploration of the “many Nigerias that live in our minds”. While Nigeria’s first pavilion featured only Nigeria-based artists, its second will notably feature a mixed group of Nigerian and Diaspora artists; Emelife itself is based in London.
Talk to The arts journal of her relationship with the pavilion as a curator of the diaspora, Emelife says: “It is pure coincidence that Adriano Pedrosa’s theme for the Biennale is Strangers everywhere. It speaks to me like a phrase about movement and evolution, finding one’s home and exploring one’s connection to the nation”. Emelife was recently appointed curator of the Edo Museum of West African Art (Emowa) in Benin. “Now, as I divide my time between Lagos, Nigeria and London, UK, the evocation of the different Nigerias I have known throughout my life becomes very clear.
The pavilion is commissioned by Governor Obaseki of Edo State in Nigeria. The full list of artists includes Ndidi Dike, Onyeka Igwe, Abraham Oghobase, Precious Okoyomon and Fatimah Tuggar.
