Anticipating Yenwa Gallery, a Cultural Oasis in Lagos 

For Nigerian-American independent curator Ugonna Ibe, setting up Yenwa Gallery in Lagos not only provides a home for her and her artists, but also offers a space for ideas and dialogue. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports 

With the launch of her fashion line Cinnamon Lagos in 2013, Ugonna Ibe paved the way for her eventual re-absorption into the visual arts circuit, which has now culminated in the development of an art gallery. This is one reason why it would not be incorrect to see, in the newly founded Yenwa Gallery in the affluent Victoria Island neighbourhood of Lagos, a logical blooming of her subsequent curatorial endeavours since that daring entrepreneurial decision. The gallery’s name, Yenwa, which tangentially alludes to fecundity, derives from Ibe’s middle name, Chinenyenwa, and translates from Igbo as “the Lord gives children.” Its shortened form suggests an imperative tone that translates as “Give me a child” and somewhat sounds like a prayer for those who visit the space to give life or be fruitful. 

About the gallery, Ibe, who until recently worked as the director of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA), must have recognised that it was a project whose time has come because she described its impending opening as “a really organic decision.”

 “It already felt as though I was operating a gallery without walls, but eventually I knew I needed to provide a home for my artists and for myself,” the Nigerian-American curator, gallerist, art advisor, designer, environmental activist, and philanthropist says. 

Of course, she didn’t dislike her job as an independent curator. She was equally enthusiastic about the expansion and development of museums, as well as their impact on education and preservation. However, not always finding possibilities that felt right for her was an impetus she needed to take the next step. “Don’t get me wrong, there is so much work to be done still, and so there are roles to be filled, but I found myself saying no to a lot of offers last year, and I had to sit with myself and decide what I wanted to do,” she cautions. “Eventually, I knew I had to create the opportunity I wanted. What did I think was missing but was also within my capacity to provide? I think that’s the sweet spot, you know? Using your passion and capacity to fill gaps and leaving the rest.”

Behind the desire to broaden her platform lurks the hope to do more for the artists and collectors. Already, the gallery’s first group exhibition, a visual homage to the Lagos art scene and exhibition circuit, highlights its interconnectedness. “I am so thrilled to be working with all these artists, it was important for me to have Kolade Oshinowo be a part of the show, it’s an intergenerational show bound by such a relatable theme, and we have two young artists who will be exhibiting for the first time.”

Talking about the exhibition, which is titled Inner Space, it brings together the following 11 contemporary artists, drawn from different generations and who are known to work across various mediums: Amarachi Odimba, Duke Asidere, Edosa Oguigo, Ehinomen Okoeki, Enotie Ogbebor, Fiyin Koko, Foluso Oguntoye, Joshua Nmesirionye, Kolade Oshinowo, Nola Ayoola, and Kelechi Orode Chukwueke.

Even though the gallery’s overriding purpose continues to be to feature the greatest of contemporary painting and sculpture from Africa and its diaspora, it makes no secret of its keen interest in African photography and new media. Ibe acknowledges her fondness for photography and cites the fact that she organised Emmanuel Oyeleke’s photography exhibition in 2019, the first one that Terra Kulture had held in almost a decade.

Meanwhile, Yenwa Gallery’s next exhibition, a photography exhibition featuring Laila Cadne, she says, is a survey of women’s beauty trends in Lagos from the 1960s to the present. “It’s such important archival work that often gets overlooked, but it’s so critical to archive culture and safeguard for future generations. We don’t want to keep losing our national narratives.”

The gallery, which also houses a library and workspace where workshops would be held in its building located at an easily accessible part of Victoria Island, can be described as a cultural oasis in a bustling metropolis. It seeks to give a platform for artists and curators to expand and grow their careers by positioning itself as a vital complement to the ecosystem that it intends to develop in Lagos.

“We want to ensure our artists are placed in important collections and museums,” Ibe explains. “I want to increase interest in Nigerian, African, and Black arts and culture, not just internationally but also locally. Ultimately, we want to be a space of discovery, which means incubating and supporting the arts. A space of ideas and conversations; culture, spirituality, and interconnectedness.”

If the gallery, which promotes expansion as its credo, is already planning its first overseas locations, it is because it sets a high value on its physical reach. As a result, it intends to improve its relationships with local and international institutions while expanding its collector network.

Back to its founder, despite growing up with a strong appreciation for the visual arts, in part because of her family background and early education, she chose to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Texas and a master’s degree in sustainability and environmental management from Harvard University in the United States.

Her arrival in Nigeria for her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in 2004 marked the start of years of re-acquainting herself with Nigerian art and culture. Over time, she found herself immersed in the local art scene, became overwhelmed by the sheer quality of the offerings and the obvious talent glut, and soon curated her first show in 2017. This was when she experienced a deep, physical passion for this form of storytelling and artistic expression.  “I had found that connection I had been missing all Those years ago as a young artist in London,” she says. 

Joining the Terra Kulture Art Gallery team, which she described as “a crash course in Nigerian art history as well as the best training for exhibition planning and execution,” was yet another career-defining step. “I truly value that experience and the relationships I built during my time there.”

Perhaps it was the desire for the validation provided by certifications that drew her to egged her on to enrol in an intensive art history course from the Southeby’s Institute of Art, which, while she described it as rigorous, was nonetheless refreshing and beneficial to the development of her curatorial writings.

Her dissatisfaction with the absence of representation of the African story quickly inspired her to explore deeper into the fields of research. This is because the African perspective always seems to be left out of the art historical canon when it is presented chronologically. This explains why The Studio Museum in Harlem chose her for the Museum Professionals Seminar last year, where her research focuses on innovative collaborative strategies to make archival information accessible to the public. “My research during the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Museum Professionals Seminar has provided a strong foundation for my work in both academic and cultural presentation, and I intend to continue that research locally,” she discloses. “As a curator and art practitioner focused on African and Black stories, it is important for me to play a part in the restoration, dissemination, and preservation.”

Interestingly, she became the inaugural creative director for NXT.ART, a physical art fair and dialogue series presented at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos, the same year, an event she felt suitably equipped for thanks to her curatorial experience. For, apart from her previous experience at the Terra Kulture Art Gallery, where she was the head curator and was instrumental in reviving the TKMG Lagos Art Auction, she was also chosen in 2019 to conceptualise, plan, and execute the first UAE-Nigeria Cultural & Arts Exhibition hosted by the UAE Ambassador. 

In addition, as an independent curator, she has advised different institutions, art fairs, and private collections, as well as consulted on art direction and costume for film and television, the titles of which can be found on Netflix and Showmax.