Repositioning African Art on Global Stage

ARTS & REVIEW

Maria Varnana

Maria Varnana, the founder and director of Tiwani Contemporary, opens up to Yinka Olatunbosun in a recent encounter on her journey of promoting contemporary African art to the world beginning 10 years ago in London and now with a new gallery in Lagos

The expansive view of Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos is like a spreadsheet- baring the statement pieces from its assortment of African artists, sourced locally and from the diaspora. At the reception sat Maria Varnana with an inviting smile and attentive eyes on every visitor to the gallery. With someone like her, you don’t need to introduce yourself twice. 

Born with a photographic memory, Lagos will always be her home even though she left the city at 11 years. The Greek-Cypriot recounted her story in an exclusive chat during the preview of the group show titled “The Company She Keeps.’’

“I grew up in Lagos,’’ she began. “I moved to Lagos from Cyprus when I was 40days old. I lived here until the age of 11. I grew up around works by Suzanne Wenger, Twin Seven Seven, Bruce Onabrakpeya, Ben Osagie and the like.’’

Upon the completion of her Masters in African Studies with a focus on African art at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), she set up her gallery in Fitzrovia, central London. For her, the location of the gallery was important to the message she needed to convey. Having previously worked with an international auction house, she discovered a weakness in the international visual art scene.

“I thought there wasn’t enough engagement with contemporary material from Nigeria and Africa then. I started researching and talking to people that were interested in publication or exhibition just to introduce to London an additional kind of ‘vibe’ to the art scene,’’ she said.

Perhaps, her encounter with the Nigerian curator, founder and director of Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) Bisi Silva in 2008, would remain the most profound in the decision to create the gallery Tiwani Contemporary.

“She was instrumental to the development of Tiwani as a whole. She was a great friend and mentor and helped me set up Tiwani in London. And throughout the process of the last 10 years, it was always an open conversation with Bisi when she was still with us and also with my colleagues,’’ she recalled with misty eyes. 

Silva died in 2019 but had managed to sow the seed of fierce passion for contemporary African art in Varnana.

“Once Tiwani was firmly established in London, we started to think constructively. We made a promise to ourselves that we would launch Tiwani in Lagos,’’ she said.

Tiwani Contemporary finally arrived in Nigeria around February 2022. The 2,000 square ft. purpose-built gallery in Victoria Island, Lagos is a homecoming of sorts for Varnana who has a deep interest in untapped areas in the visual arts sector. Since its opening, Tiwani Contemporary Arts has thrown its doors wide for female voices from Africa and in the diaspora to be seen and heard-although the gallery is not driven by agenda.

“For me, I thought commercially, it would have made sense to establish this in New York or Paris. But then, I feel very close to my Nigerian upbringing. I feel very passionate about the artists I work with and the themes that I want to explore. I feel that if we want to be part of the movement of Africa globally, then we need to be here, talking to local artists and also engaging with local patrons. Basically, I would love to see more works of Nigerian artists,’’ she said.

The name of the gallery ‘Tiwani’ is derived from the Yoruba language after searching for how to connect the gallery with the people that it represents.

“It’s a beautiful name and I spoke with Bisi about having a name that speaks of the spirit of the gallery and she explained to me that Tiwani loosely translates to ‘it belongs to us’ or ‘it’s ours.’ And I just loved it. It had resonance to what I was hoping to explore and achieve with the gallery.”

Thus, Tiwani Contemporary has become an institution in Nigeria to help build relationships, convey messages and bridge the gap between artists and collectors both local and international.

“I feel very strongly that if you are very passionate about something and it really aligns with our true values, the rest will follow. Of course, we don’t see it as something that would bring immediate financial returns. As it stands, we have a track record and a good mindset,’’ she added.

While reflecting on her early days at Tiwani Contemporary in London, she recalled the hurdles crossed to position contemporary African arts where it is.

“I was an outsider in every single way. I was an outsider in the sense that my production was full of artists from Africa and in the diaspora. Some fantastic galleries were already working with some of them. The October Gallery has El Anatsui but I wasn’t part of the gallery system. I was an outsider because of the geography that I represented. The only way to overcome that was through the quality of the artists that we choose to engage. We have to create the track record through the shows. We had to find the bias and it was a long journey, not an easy one. We also had shortcomings in the early days that we learnt from.

“It was a constant learning process every single day but I think in the past four years or so, things started to feel a lot, I don’t want to use the word easier but smoother. Suddenly we are out chasing clients and now clients are chasing us- so there is a shift. And we have a bigger kind of movement at the moment.”

Citing the example of Tate Gallery in London, she admitted that the push for the acquisition of arts from Africa has become less tedious than it was when she was still at an art auction house.

“If you want to build a truly international collection, we must include Africa in the conversation. Tiwani began to shape things and that led to the creation of an art fair specifically for African galleries. It corrected how art from Africa should be valued.

“People had this idea that just because I worked with artists from Africa, the price of the art should be cheaper or less. But we have helped to break those commercial barriers. Galleries and auction houses are not the best of friends but suddenly, there is a shift in the market and we can see a synergy between the two,’’ she said.

Now in Nigeria, Tiwani Contemporary will also contribute to the understanding of contemporary African art through publications and other curated events.

“We have published publications and have held art talks. We will be collaborating with Guest Artists Space Foundation (G.A.S) to host three residencies in Lagos. These are humble beginnings. But we would like to do more as we grow. These are ways to support our artists and give them opportunities to engage,’’ she said.