Arnolfini 2024 summer programme features exhibitions from Nengi Omuku and Adébayo Bolaji

Spearheading its 2024 summer programme, Arnolfini has announced twin exhibitions from Nigerian artist Nengi Omuku and London artist, actor, playwright and poet, Adébayo Bolaji.

Nengi Omuku: The Dance of People and the Natural World

Now living and working in Lagos, Omuku studied at the Slade School of Art, University College London, and has exhibited widely in the UK and America. Initially shown at Hastings Contemporary, The Dance of People and the Natural World has been specially adapted for Arnolfini.

The artist’s work is characterised for its vibrant, dreamlike landscapes and ritualistic figures within nature, painted onto traditional Sanyan cloth and hung so that often, both sides can be viewed simultaneously.

Nengi Omuku Eden, 2022 – photo: Mark Blower, courtesy the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London

Nengi Omuku, Quorum, 2022 – photo: Mark Blower, courtesy the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London

“The reason why I work with Sanyan has to do with nostalgia, longing for a time in Nigeria where things were beautiful, full of meaning, and textiles were something that were celebrated so profoundly,” Omuku reflects.

For the exhibition curators, the juxtaposition of humanity and nature within her work brings to mind “the relationship between both individual and collective thought and ideas of belonging”.

Nengi Omuku, Days Gone By, 2023 – photo: Todd-White Art Photography, courtesy the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London

Nengi Omuku, 2022 – photo: Full House Partners, courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London

Adébayo Bolaji: In Praise of Beauty

Taking over the first floor galleries, Bolaji’s “kaleidoscopic and multidisciplinary world” is represented through a rich variety of painting, collage, sculpture, film and poetry interrogating the idea, and idealisation, of beauty.

First seen at Nottingham’s New Art Exchange, the exhibition has been reimagined for Arnolfini, where it will also be complemented by an ancillary programme of live events and workshops.

Adébayo Bolaji To Become, 2024 – photo: courtesy of Bolaji Studio

Adébayo Bolaji, Birth, 2024 – photo: courtesy of Bolaji Studio

“What are the driving forces that lead us to believe in a myth of universal beauty, despite its evolving nature?” he asks. “Beauty, in one sense, is a narrative, an experience, and a value so powerful that it can transform even the most powerful among us into the weakest in a moment.

“In Praise of Beauty is creative questioning, a deliberate act of bringing beauty into focus, and an opportunity to explore, discover, and rediscover its essence.”

Adébayo Bolaji, The Head of Medusa, 2024 – photo: courtesy of Bolaji Studio

Complementing these major exhibitions, the programme of regular and drop-in family and community events at Arnolfini is as substantial as it is diverse.

Highlights include the friendly and informal drawing sessions at Bristol Portrait Club on Sunday afternoons, free AIM Art in Motion workshops on Tuesday afternoons, and the Women’s Craft Club, which is a weekly ‘craft and conversation’ group on Friday mornings open to women and children, with all materials provided – from embroidery to jewellery making and crochet.

One-off events include a screening of Lis Rhodes’ films, presented by Bristol Experimental Expanded Film (BEEF), and the family-friendly musical collaboration and paean to insects – JUMP, bringing together composer Karen Wimhurst with entomologist Peter Smithers, multimedia artist Sonia Killman and bio acoustician Charlie Woodrow.

Women’s Craft Club at Arnolfini – photo: Lisa Whiting for Arnolfini

Adébayo Bolaji: In Praise of Beauty and Nengi Omuku: The Dance of People and the Natural World are at Arnolfini from June 29 to September 29 2024 (Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-6pm), with a double exhibition preview on June 28 at 5.30-8pm. Both exhibitions are free and will be bookable in advance.

More information about all exhibitions, events and workshops at Arnolfini is available at www.arnolfini.org.uk.

Main photo: Gregg Houston, courtesy of Bolaji Studio (portrait of Adébayo Bolaji between his artworks No Beauty Without Struggle and The Vessel)

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