Tiwani Contemporary Gallery in Lagos
Victoria Island · Contemporary programme
Editorial Profile
Founded in London in 2011 by Maria Varnava with guidance from the late Nigerian curator Bisi Silva, Tiwani Contemporary opened its Lagos space in Victoria Island in 2022, coinciding with the gallery's tenth anniversary. The name, derived from a Yoruba phrase meaning "ours," reflects a curatorial commitment to championing artists from Africa and its diaspora across emerging, mid-career, and established trajectories. The 2,000-square-foot purpose-built white cube inaugurated with monumental paintings by British-Nigerian artist Joy Labinjo, anchoring a programme attentive to the specific circumstances of contemporary art in Lagos while sustaining a dialogue with the gallery's sister venue on Cork Street in Mayfair.
The roster moves fluidly across media and registers, from Virginia Chihota's introspective works on paper and Theo Eshetu's moving-image practice to Délio Jasse's photographic investigations of archive and migration, Gareth Nyandoro's paper-cut installations, and Emma Prempeh's painterly meditations on memory. Recent and forthcoming exhibitions feature Ayotunde Ojo, Tizta Berhanu, and a group presentation joining Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Hadassa Ngamba, Dawit L. Petros, and Muzae Sesay. Within the broader network of galleries in Lagos that has matured around ART X Lagos and the city's expanding institutional infrastructure, the Victoria Island space functions as a connective point between West African production and international circulation. The gallery participates in fairs including Frieze London and Art Basel, while works by its represented artists have entered collections at Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou, MoMA, and Zeitz MOCAA, sustaining a critical reach that extends across continents.
Selected Artists
Virginia Chihota
Zimbabwean
Theo Eshetu
British, Ethiopian, Italian
Délio Jasse
Angolan
Gareth Nyandoro
Zimbabwean
Emma Prempeh
British
Dawit L. Petros
Eritrean, Canadian
Andrew Esiebo
Nigerian
Alicia Henry
American
Selected Exhibitions
Full Ground
Joy Labinjo
Caducado
Délio Jasse
Belonging In-Between
Emma Prempeh
Emotional Catch
Samuel Nnorom
Material Affirmations: ORIKI Acts I-III
Nifemi Marcus-Bello
Where My Gaze Falls
Sikelela Owen
Lalala ha!
Wura-Natasha Ogunji
The Undiscovered Genius of the Niger Delta
Umar Rashid
Explore Lagos
A local guide to Lagos, with links to its galleries, institutions, and wider Nigeria art context.
