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I had the pleasure of attending the Nigerian Modernism preview last month, which runs at Tate Modern until May 2026. Showcasing over 250 works from 50+ artists spanning 65 years, it’s a celebration of Nigeria’s diverse art from the late colonial era through independence and into the later decades of the 20th century.
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Offering one of the most comprehensive studies of 20th-century West African art to be staged in the UK, the landmark exhibition covers painting, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, wood carvings and photography, and tells a rich, multi-faceted story about Nigeria’s evolving social, political and spiritual life.
Opening with the closing decades of British colonial rule, a moment when artists in Nigeria were experimenting with imported academic traditions while reclaiming indigenous aesthetics, the first rooms introduce visitors to painters and sculptors who navigated this duality, absorbing European formal training yet grounding their work in Yoruba, Igbo and Northern cultures.
Instead of positioning these influences in opposition, curators Osei Bonsu and Bilal Akkouche present them in parallel, as the former shaped the latter and an emerging visual culture. The energy shifts as the retrospective moves into the years surrounding independence, featuring compelling works from the late 1950s through to the 1970s charged with a nation redefining itself, showing how art shapes and records societal change.
If you’re interested in modern art, African culture, and exploring a vital, overlooked chapter of art history, you will love this exhibition.
Nigerian Modernism runs at Tate Modern until 10 May 2026
