Education
BSc Architecture, Covenant University, Nigeria
Solo exhibitions
2022All the World’s Protests, Edith-Russ-Haus, Oldenburg, Germany
2021This is an Essential Show II, Villa Waldberta, München, Germany
2021This is an Essential Show I, La Cápsula, Zürich, Switzerland
2019Mumu LP Vol.3: The Listening Room, The Little Theatre Club, Mombasa, Kenya
2019Mumu LP Vol.3: The Listening Room, Jazz Hole, Lagos, Nigeria
2019The People’s Parliament, Fonderie Darling, Montreal, Canada
2019The Artist Isn’t Present, The Gallow Gate – Many Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
2018Power Show II: The God-Fathers Are Not to Blame, RAI, Lagos, Nigeria
2018Power Show I, Omenka Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
2017Deaf vs. Dumb, National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria
2015Boju-Boju, Osh Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
2015Women of Africa, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece
Group exhibitions
2025Wind Chimes, CCA Lagos, Nigeria
2024−162°C, 450 kg/m³, Fossil Energy, Fragile Futures, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Germany
2023Tales for a Stranger, Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2023The Listening Biennial, 2nd Edition, Lisbon, Portugal
2022Radio Art Zone, Esch2022 European Capital of Culture, Luxembourg
2022Fossile Erfahrung, Prater Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2022In a Pot of Hot Soup, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London, U.K.
2021TransformAfrica Exhibition, Le Cube Gallery, Rabat, Morocco
2019Visa to Heaven, Part of Nick Cave: Call and Response, Tramway, Glasgow, U.K.
2019Inside Out, Factoria Habana, as part of the 2019 Bienal de La Habana, Cuba
2018ABSA L’Atelier Exhibition, ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018Generation Y, National Exhibition Pavilion, Abuja, Nigeria
2018Kobi Onyame vs. The Artist, The Gallow Gate – Many Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
2018International Performance Week, Lagos Dance Gathering, Lagos, Nigeria
2018Local Spaces, Transnational Connections, CCA Lagos, Nigeria
2017Deaf vs. Dumb I, Lagos Biennial, Nigerian Railway Museum, Lagos, Nigeria
2017ChinAfrika: Under Construction, Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig, Germany
20172nd Changjiang International Photography and Video Biennale, China
2016Here & Here, ASIKO Art & Curatorial School, ASNI Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2016Iwaya Community Arts Festival (ICAF), Lagos, Nigeria
2016ImageNation: Eyes on the World, City Gallery, Desenzano del Garda, Italy
2016FotoParty Lagos, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Editions, Nlele Institute / Goethe-Institut, Lagos, Nigeria
2015Art Basel Miami, What’s Inside Her Never Dies, Yeelen Gallery, Miami, USA
Performances
2024The Palm, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Performance and video work presented as part of Fossil Energy, Fragile Futures
2022The Oily Tears of the Niger Delta, Prater Galerie, Berlin, Germany, Performance presented as part of Fossile Erfahrung
2020Ogoni Clean-Up, Ogoniland, Rivers State, Nigeria, Performance and two-channel video work
2020Kòrónà Stọmp, Digital performance commissioned by Festivals of the Future for Take Me Somewhere
2019The People’s Parliament, Fonderie Darling, Montreal, Canada
2019Mumu LP Vol.3: The Listening Room, Jazz Hole, Lagos, Nigeria, and The Little Theatre Club, Mombasa, Kenya
2018Power Show, Omenka Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
Curatorial projects
2023Stephanie Chianda: Me, Myself & I, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece
2017Living on the Edge, 1st Lagos Biennial, Co-curator / Curatorial Advisor, Lagos, Nigeria
2016Here & Here, ASIKO Art & Curatorial School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Residencies
2022Resident Artist, Deveron Projects, Huntly, Scotland
2021Resident Artist, Villa Waldberta, München, Germany
2021Resident Artist, Freiraum, Zürich, Switzerland
2021Resident Artist, Edith-Russ-Haus, Oldenburg, Germany
2020Resident Artist, Gastatelier Gleis70, Zürich, Switzerland
2019–2020Resident, The Gallow Gate / Many Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
2019Resident Artist, Hangar, Lisbon, Portugal
2019Resident Artist, Fonderie Darling, Montreal, Canada
2019Resident Artist, Factoria Habana, Havana, Cuba
2016IICD Residency, Abuja, Nigeria
2016ASIKO Art & Curatorial School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Research, academic programmes, lectures & workshops
2021CCA-Mellon Seminar, The Digital Now: Architecture & Intersectionality, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Canada, Selected as one of sixteen researchers
2021Artist Workshop, Community Action Research, Horniman Museum & Gardens, London, U.K.
2020Speaker, Experiences of Oil Conference, Stavanger Museum / University of Bergen, Norway
2020Artist Talk, Fine Arts Department, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
2018Speaker, African Crossroads, Marrakech, Morocco
2018Participant, TSA Masterclass: Art Writing Workshop with Prof. Chika Okeke-Agulu, Lagos, Nigeria
2017Participant, OSIWA – West Africa Art Action Academy, Conakry, Guinea
2016Presentation, Fine Arts Department, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
2015Speaker, Pecha Kucha, Lagos Series 8
Publications / writing
2026“The Wrong Black Woman on the Fourth Plinth” Art Africa Magazine
2026“Post-Mortemism: An Autopsy of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern” Art Africa Magazine
2025“MOWAA: Museum of Antiquities or Iniquities?” Art Africa Magazine
2020“Who Art Exhibition Epp?” People’s Stories Project
2019“Victor Ehikhamenor: From the Village to the World, and Back Again” The Art Momentum
2019“The Women Who Shaped the Nigerian Art History” Somethingweafricansgot, Issue #7
2018“Qudus Onikeku: The Journey of the Spirit Child” In Conversation with Ayọ̀ Akínwándé — Somethingweafricansgot, Issue #5
2018“Jelili Atiku: Decolonization in Performance” Somethingweafricansgot, Issue #5
2018“The Nigeria (Lagos) Art Sin” Somethingweafricansgot, Issue #5
2018“Confronting an Unaddressed Nigerian Reality in the Exhibition ‘Salvage Therapy’” The Sole Adventurer
2017“Rewinding Asiko, the Way Forward” ASIKO: On the Future of Artistic and Curatorial Pedagogies in Africa, CCA Lagos, p.106
2015“The Migrant” Spaces of Displacement, Journal on Displacement, Migration & Refugeeism
Photography / image publications
2019Women of Africa, F, Cairo Editore, Italy
2016Lost Bride Series, ImageNation / Defactory Magazine, Italy
2016Boju-Boju, Dienacht Magazine
2015PoetsArtists, Issue #69
2015Art Africa, Exhibition Review, Issue #01, p.206
Selected publications / books featuring the practice
2024–162°C, 450 kg/m³, Fossil Energy, Fragile Futures, Edited by Lena Johanna Reisner, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Germany
2023Radio Art Zone, Edited and designed by Sarah Washington, Hatje Cantz
2022Collector’s Series #01: Artists & Cities, The Sole Adventurer
2022The Town is the Archive, Deveron Projects, Huntly, Scotland
Awards & grants
2026Arts Council England, Developing Your Creative Practice — Beyond Provenance: Developing a Methodology of Spiritual Provenance Research in Contemporary Art Practice
2025Creative Scotland, Open Fund — Painting for the Gods
2021Prince Claus Seed Awards
2020Edith-Russ-Haus Media Art Award, Oldenburg, Germany
2019TransformAfrica Grant, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Germany
2019Place Publique Prize, Fonderie Darling, Montréal, Canada
2018Finalist, ArtX Prize, Lagos, Nigeria
2018Finalist, ABSA L’Atelier Art Competition, Johannesburg, South Africa
Selected press & critical coverage
2022Untitled Press Archive, Coverage of Ayọ̀ Akínwándé’s practice
2020C-Print Magazine “In Conversation: Ayọ̀ Akínwándé”
2019The New York Times, Coverage of Lagos’s artistic and cultural ecosystem featuring Ayọ̀ Akínwándé’s work
2019Contemporary&, The Artist Isn’t Present
2018The Sole Adventurer, Power Show II
2018Omenka Online, Power Show II
2015Photo Business Weekly “Women of Africa”, Athens, Greece
Professional memberships
Member Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA)