Nigeria has lifted the veil on plans for its pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, which will take place from 20 April to 24 November 2024. This will be the second time the country has participated in the event, following its inclusion in the 57th edition in 2017.
Curated by British-Nigeria curator and art historian Aindrea Emelife, who is curator of contemporary and modern art at the yet-to-be-opened Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin, the exhibition is titled “Nigeria Imaginary”. The exhibition will feature works by eight Nigerian or Nigerian diasporic artists – Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Ndidi Dike, Onyeka Igwe, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Abraham Oghobase, Yinka Shonibare, Fatimah Tuggar and Precious Okoyomon – from different generations and at various stages of their careers. After the Biennial closes, the exhibition will move to MOWAA, the pavilion's official organizer, where it will be presented in an expanded form in 2025.
In a statement, Emelife said that the exhibition, to be held in a historic palace in Dorsoduro, close to the Gallerie dell'Accademia, "explores different perspectives and constructed ideas, memories and nostalgia of Nigeria, with an intergenerational and intergeographical reach". Elsewhere, she recognized the concept's perfect fit within the Biennial's broader rubric.
“It's a complete fluke that Adriano Pedrosa's theme for the Biennial is 'Foreigners Everywhere,'” Emelife told The Art Newspaper. “It speaks to me like a sentence about movement and evolution, finding home and exploring attachment to nationality.”
Source: Artforum