Tiwani Contemporary, a London- and Lagos-based gallery for contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, ceased operations after 15 years. A review of its financial position found the commercial model unsustainable amid rising operational costs and wider market uncertainties. The London space closed, and the Lagos location will stop operating in its current format to allow restructuring in the coming months. Founded in Fitzrovia in 2011 by Maria Varnava, the gallery provided a platform for African art when Western collector interest was limited. It remained one of the few year-round UK spaces dedicated to artists from the continent, representing figures such as Gareth Nyandoro and Dawit L. Petros. It also supported Black-British artists including Michaela Yearwood-Dan and Joy Labinjo.
"“Following a comprehensive review of the gallery's financial position, and against a backdrop of rising operational costs and wider market uncertainties, the directors have determined that the current commercial model is no longer sustainable,” the statement reads. The gallery's London space has closed, while its Lagos location “will cease operations in their current format to allow for restructuring in the months ahead”."
"Tiwani Contemporary was founded in Fitzrovia, central London in 2011 by Maria Varnava, a Greek-Cypriot who spent her childhood in Lagos. Varnava set up Tiwani Contemporary as a platform for African art at a time when interest in the region was still considered niche by most Western collectors. Throughout its lifetime, the gallery was one of the few year-round spaces in the UK dedicated to exhibiting and representing artists from the continent."
"The gallery grew alongside the intense, and often speculative, rise of commercial interest in African and diaspora artists in the 2010s. Discussing predatory dynamics in the art market, Varnava told The Art Newspaper in a 2021 interview: “I know cash is cash, but any collector that has placed a work bought from me at auction is definitely not going to be a client of mine again.”"
"Tiwani Contemporary has also helped launch the careers of several Black-British artists who have gone on to find great commercial and institutional success, including Michaela Yearwood-Dan and Joy Labinjo; neither artist is presently included in the current list of represented artists on the gallery's website."
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