Adenrele Sonariwo is a Nigerian entrepreneur and art curator. She is the founder of the

Rele Art Gallery Rele Gallery is a contemporary art space and gallery in Lagos, Nigeria. It is on Military Street, Onikan Lagos and on Victoria Island, Lagos. History Rele was founded by Adenrele Sonariwo, art curator and former accountant, former employee of P ...

on Military Street, Onikan,

Lagos Island Lagos Island () is the principal and central Local government areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian ce ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

as well as the Rele Art Gallery on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Rele Gallery is the first African contemporary art gallery to establish an outpost in Los Angeles. Sonariwo was the lead curator of the first Nigerian pavilion at the 57th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 2017. Alongside the

, Sonariwo is also the founding director of the Rele Arts Foundation. The foundation's projects include the annual young Contemporaries programme, which offers grants, mentorship, residences and training to a small group of emerging artists, an opportunity that results in an exhibition hosted at the gallery.

Education

Sonariwo got her first degree in accounting at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in 2007, then went on to work at

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

as an accountant for four years. She has an MA Multimedia Communications from the

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU, or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...

and a certificate in Curating Contemporary Art Exhibitions from the

University of the Arts London The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...

Rele Gallery

On return to Nigeria, she founded

in 2010, though it didn't kick off as a physical space until February, 2015. In 2011, while the idea of the gallery had started taking root, she attempted to start an arts university in Nigeria which she called ''The Modern Day School of the Arts.'' It was "a pop up art school for art lovers who may be stuck in a different career."

57th Venice Biennale

In 2017, Sonariwo became the lead curator of the first Nigerian pavilion at the 57th

. She was joined by writer and art critic Emmanuel Iduma as associate curator. The edition was themed ''Viva Arte Viva'' and the Nigerian pavilion featured the work of

Victor Ehikhamenor Victor Ehikhamenor is a Nigerian visual artist, writer, and photographer known for his expansive works that engage with multinational cultural heritage and postcolonial socioeconomics of contemporary black lives. In 2017, he was selected (along ...

, Peju Alatise, and Qudus Onikeku.

Awards and other Honours

Sonariwo won The Future Awards for Arts and Culture in 2016. She has also been on the Power List of influencers in culture in 2016 and 2017. In March 2017, she was listed as one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria. She has spoken at TEDx events, and been a member of the jury at Dak'art Biennale which took place in 2018. She has also graced the cover of Guardian ''Life'' magazine in Nigeria. In 2018, Vogue listed her as one of the "Five Coolest Women in Lagos". Since 2019, Sonariwo has been a consultant on culture ad tourism to the Governor of

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

Personal life

Sonariwo is the daughter of the 18th

Akarigbo of Remo The Akarigbo of Remoland is the royal title of the paramount ruler of the thirty three (33) towns that makes up the Remo kingdom in Ogun state in Nigeria The capital of the kingdom is Sagamu or Shagamu also known as Ishagamu and it is made up of ...

, Oba Michael Sonariwo, who died in 2016 at 80 years.

Notable interviews

* An Interview With Adenrele Sonariwo at ''The Spark'' (March 2018) * Adenrele Sonariwo: Giving The Arts A Voice at ''The Guardian'' (January, 2018) *The Venice Questionnaire

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonariwo, Adenrele Businesspeople from Washington, D.C. Nigerian accountants Living people Nigerian art curators Howard University alumni Academy of Art University alumni 21st-century Nigerian businesswomen 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people) Nigerian women curators