Tiwani Contemporary, Major African Art Gallery, Is Closing Its Doors
Tiwani Contemporary, founded in London in 2011 by Maria Varnava, has permanently closed its London gallery and paused operations at its Lagos outpost ahead of a restructuring, citing “financial challenges,” rising operating costs, and a difficult contemporary art market. The gallery most recently opened a two-story space on Cork Street in 2023 and launched a 2,000-square-foot Lagos space in 2022. Known for championing contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, Tiwani worked with artists including the late Alicia Henry, Dawit L. Petros, Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), and Theo Eshetu, and previously showed artists such as Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kapwani Kiwanga, Simone Leigh, and Michaela Yearwood-Dan. The closure will be overseen by BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP, and comes amid a downturn in the African art auction market, which peaked at $116.5 million in 2022.
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This story was covered in Boycotts, Closures, and the Museum Loot Legacy