Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.


Aindrea Emelife art historian

Aindrea Emelife was born in London, England in 1994. She is of Nigerian descent and earned a BA in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, after which she gradually established herself as a curator specialising in modern and contemporary art ,with an emphasis on decolonizing African art narratives.

Born: 1996 London, England


Biography

Art historian, art critic, broadcaster, curator, and writer, Aindrea Emelife was born in London, England, in 1994. She is of Nigerian descent. Emelife earned a BA in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Shortly after graduation, she embarked on a career as a curator and art historian, working on high-profile exhibitions for museums, galleries, and private collections globally. Emelife specialises in modern and contemporary art, with particular emphasis on decolonizing African art narratives, transnationalism, and the politics of representation.

Emelife’s 2023 exhibition, Black Venus, debuted at the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco, USA before moving to Somerset House in London. This project displayed works by 18 Black women and non-binary artists, juxtaposing contemporary art with historical images from 1793–1930, thus confronting the objectification and portrayal of Black femininity over the years. The participants redefined narratives around Black womanhood, challenging historical caricatures and offering a diverse representation of their identity and experiences. Emelife's earlier 2021 exhibition at Christie’s in London, titled Bold Black British highlighted the evolution of Black British art from the 1980s onwards, showcasing a mix of mediums, including painting, sculpture, music, and time-based artworks by renowned artists, such as John Akomfrah, James Barnor, Jade Montserrat, Ibrahim El-Salahi, and musician FKA Twigs. Emelife’s selection aimed to challenge and expand traditional views, offering an insight into the diversity and richness of Black British artistic contributions. Of her curatorial practice, Emelife has stated: ‘I like to see my curatorial practice as a Trojan horse. I want people to go into exhibitions with one idea, and have other ideas leap out at you, challenging and moving you at unexpected turns, asking you to look again at the history you thought you knew, or look closer at a history that has been seldom looked at,’ (Emelife quoted in Abrams, 2022).

In 2021, Emelife was appointed to the Mayor of London's Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm, a body focused on enhancing public understanding of the history embedded in the city's statues, street and building names, and memorials. She is also the appointed curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the forthcoming Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City, Nigeria, and the Nigerian Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Designed by the Ghanaian-British architect, David Adjaye, the new Nigerian museum is due to open in 2024 and will display artefacts from the Kingdom of Benin, including the famous Benin bronzes, looted trophies of the 1897 invasion by British forces. Emelife has contributed articles to several newspapers including The Guardian, Dazed, and Wallpaper*. Aindrea Emelife currently lives and works in London.

Related books

  • Aindrea Emelife, Art Can Change the World: A Manifesto (London: Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2024)
  • Aindrea Emelife, A Brief History of Protest Art (London: Tate Publishing, 2022)
  • Francesca Pini, Aindrea Emelife and Marcella De Paoli, HistoryNow: Marc Quinn (Milan: Electra, 2022)
  • Jo Baring, ed., Revising Modern British Art (London: Lund Humphries, 2022)
  • Aindrea Emelife and Matthew Holman, Citizens of Memory: Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Ndidi Emefiele, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Rachel Jones, Cassi Namoda, Walter Price, Olivia Sterling (London: the Perimeter, 2021)

Related organisations

  • Courtauld Institute of Art, London (student )
  • Edo Museum of West African Art, Benin City, Nigeria (Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art)
  • Mayor of London's Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm (member)

Related web links

Selected exhibitions

  • Black Venus (curator), Museum of African Diaspora (MOAD), San Francisco (2023)
  • Black Venus (curator), Terrace Rooms & Courtyard Rooms, Somerset House, London (2023)
  • Hauntology (curator), Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Chicago (2023)
  • Postcards from Home (curator), dot.ateliers, Accra (2022)
  • “homegrown” (curator), dot.ateliers, Ghana (2022)
  • Black Venus (curator), Fotografiska, New York (2022)
  • Bold Black British (curator), Christies, London (2021)
  • Citizens of Memory (curator), The Perimeter, London (2021)
  • Restoration: Now or Never (curator), SaveArtSpace, London (2021)
  • Black Bodies, White Spaces: Invisibility & Hypervisibility (curator), Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas (2020–21)
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Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Aindrea Emelife]

Ben Uri library

Publications related to [Aindrea Emelife] in the Ben Uri Library