Adejoke Tugbiyele


Adejoke Aderonke Tugbiyele is a Nigerian-American multidisciplinary visual artist and activist. She is known primarily as a sculptor, performer, and filmmaker, but has also worked in painting, drawing, and textiles. Her work deals with issues of human rights, queer rights and women's rights. She lives in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
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Biography

Early life

Adejoke Aderonke Tugbiyele was born December 4, 1977, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. At the age of four, she moved with her family to Lagos, Nigeria and lived there until she was 11. In high school, she returned to New York City to attend the High School of Art and Design. She is queer.

Education

Tugbiyele has a B.S. degree in architecture from New Jersey Institute of Technology; and a M.F.A. degree from the Rinehart School of Sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art.

Organizational affiliation

Tugbiyele has been affiliated with the Nigerian NGO, Initiative for Equal Rights which provides emergency assistance to LGBTQ Nigerians. She has served as a United States-based representative for Solidarity Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of Nigerian organizations working for human rights, queer rights and activism, and to fight against HIV/AIDS. She is also a juror and mentor for an organization that supports queer artists in Nigeria called Queer Artists Fund.

Artistic career

Tugbiyele's work has been influenced by artists including El Anatsui, Fela Kuti, Ai Weiwei, Kara Walker, Zanele Muholi, and Rotimi Fani-Kayode.
Her work is in various public museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum, and Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.

Awards