Tiwani Contemporary, Major African Art Gallery, Is Closing Its Doors
By Jo Lawson-Tancred
Tiwani Contemporary, a world-leading platform for contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, has permanently closed its London gallery. Its Lagos location has also paused operations ahead of a planned restructuring.
In a statement, the gallery cited “financial challenges,” worsened by rising operation costs and “a difficult market” for contemporary art, as the reason for its “extremely painful” decision to close. The news follows a contraction of the market for African art from its peak just four years ago.
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Founded in London by Maria Varnava in 2011, Tiwani is named after a Nigerian Yoruba phrase meaning “it belongs to us.” The gallery expanded for the years, most recently establishing a two-story space on Cork Street, an art-rich area of London, in 2023. The previous year, Tiwani opened its 2,000-square-foot outpost in Lagos, where Varnava was raised.
Varnava celebrated the gallery’s 15-year commitment to African art in a statement, saying that she is “profoundly grateful to the artists who have entrusted us with their work” and “the collectors, curators, and collaborators who have supported our vision.”
Tiwani Contemporary’s presentation at 1-54 London in 2018, with Joy Labinjo, Untitled (2017) at left. Photo © Katrina Sorrentino.
The gallery’s roster includes the late Alicia Henry, Dawit L. Petros, Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers) and Theo Eshetu, who is currently included in Koyo Kouoh‘s “In Minor Keys” exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale. The gallery previously represented rising London luminary Joy Labinjo, and it exhibited several artists on the verge of stardom, including Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kapwani Kiwanga, Simone Leigh, and Michaela Yearwood-Dan.
Tiwani was a stalwart of the international fair scene, regularly participating at Frieze in London, Los Angeles, and New York, 1-54 London, Art Basel Miami Beach, and Art X Lagos. The gallery had been slated to exhibit at Liste in Basel next month, but it has pulled out.
Tiwani’s closure will be overseen by BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP. The gallery has pledged to prioritize the needs of its artists.
London has long been a hub of activity for the promotion of contemporary African art, but this market has increasingly come “under pressure,” according to Frank Kilbourn, chairman of the South African auction house Strauss and Co.. As noted by Artnet News columnist Margaret Carrigan earlier this year, total auction sales of work by African artists has, in recent years, fallen far short of its $116.5 million peak in 2022.
This article was originally published by Artnet News.
