Aindrea Emelife, the 29-year-old curator of this year’s Nigerian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which opens next weekend, has a résumé that reads like an art enthusiast’s dream. By 20, she was writing an art column for the Financial Times. At 27, she published her first book, A Brief History of Protest Art. She has organized blockbuster shows, including the 2022 traveling exhibition “Black Venus,” which explored the representation of Black women in art. Last year, Emelife was appointed the curator of modern and contemporary art at Benin City’s new Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), designed by David Adjaye.
Emelife, who splits her time between London and Lagos, is in Venice making last-minute arrangements. Though she sounds relaxed when we speak, she’s under a great deal of pressure. Nigeria has participated in the Biennale only once before, in 2017. At the 2022 Biennale, only 9 of the 54 African countries organized pavilions, while this year, Nigeria is one of 13. The show Emelife presents needs to do justice to both a country and a continent at large.
