This spotlight features Adenrele Sonariwo. Adenrele is a gallerist based in Lagos, Nigeria
August 2023
Today, we are spotlighting Adenrele Sonariwo, a gallerist based in Lagos, who sat down to a conversation with Adun Okupe to discuss a day in her life and the role of the creative industries in driving social change in Nigeria.
Listen to the full interview on our YouTube channel here.
Welcome to TSC Spotlight, let’s start with who you live with…
I live with a lot of art.
OK, and what is a day in your life like? Do you have an alarm, what time does it go off?
I don’t use an alarm. I’m just wired like that. I wake up every day at 5 a.m. I would lay in bed for a little bit. At about 5:30, I’ll go to the gym and get back home by 8 a.m. to have some quiet time before heading to the gallery. I get there around 10 a.m., in time for our opening at 11 a.m. Closing time is at 6 p.m. Typically, I head home, but sometimes I have engagements to attend to after work.
Mondays are usually self-care Mondays. It also depends on the season we’re in, whether we’re prepping for an exhibition or having a bit of downtime. But I keep to my routine.
Weekends are a bit more social; I go to the gallery on Saturdays. Then attend exhibitions in some other galleries. And on Sundays, we’re closed, so no work on Sundays. I would attend church, spend time with family, and catch up with friends.
How did you get on this career path, given your background in the Corporate/Accounting world?
When I moved back to Nigeria and saw the creative space, I always wanted to work there. I have had the gallery for about 9 years, but my journey started about 13 years ago. I visited artists and organized some little exhibitions.
Can you share some of your most memorable moments?
I love my job because I get to work with so many different creative people, like the artists, most importantly. They are the core of what we do. I enjoy visiting their studios, and learning about their minds, what is important to them, and the issues they are trying to tackle. I spend a good amount of time with artists, and I enjoy it the most.
I also enjoy the final exhibition, when all the hard work has been done and we have people coming into the space, engaging with the work, and it is exciting to see the different perspectives.
Tell us something about the Nigerian condition that influences your work or keeps you up at night.
Nothing keeps me up at night; I try to go to sleep at a certain time every night. But seriously, we run the Young Contemporaries, every year, and the programme for me is one of the most important work I get to do every year.
We bring together artists from different backgrounds and communities and give them access they don’t necessarily have, and over 200 artists have gone through the programme. I hope the impact we are contributing in their lives can be used to impact their own communities. They are raising issues through their work.
The gallery has a bigger role in ensuring that we have public engagement locally and internationally with our gallery in LA, and for us, it is giving us the platform to promote these artists. We are in the 9th edition now.
What does societal change mean to you?
Social change is making an impact in the lives of people. Whatever industry you are in, beyond being a business and making money, it is about contributing to society. For us, it is about contributing to the lives of the young artists around us.
When we go into Ekiti for the sessions over three to four weeks. The artists have to go into the communities and come up with ways to give back to society. Ado-Ekiti is a very serene environment for creative inspiration. Each cohort has to give back to the community. It is authentic because it connects
Who in the creative industry (globally) inspires you, and why?
I’m not going to say one person inspires me. It’s the artists, you know, and in a way, every single person—I say everybody is an artist in a sense. And I’m just really blown away by the minds of the artists. The artists I work with inspired me to open a 2nd location internationally, they inspire me to take up space in the places we are taking up space. It is because of them that I do what I do.
What does success mean to you?
It is about being authentic and being true to yourself. There are so many things out there that are fast, and sometimes we are quick to jump on it.
It’s being patient. Don’t go against your values or what you believe in, and the world will catch up eventually.
Your gifts will always make room for you. So just stay the course.
If you were not a gallerist, what career path would you be on?
I’ll be a singer. I wish I could be a singer in my other life!
Thank you, and well done with everything that you do, and thank you for inviting me to be a part of this.
If you would like us to feature someone who is a leader in the creative industries in Africa, then please let us know here.