Tiwani Contemporary, the London- and Lagos-based gallery for contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, has ceased operations after 15 years, according to a statement from the gallery published today (28 May).
“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”.
The gallery 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. These include the Zimbabwean Gareth Nyandoro, known for his large works on paper, and the Eritrean-born photographer Dawit L. Petros.
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.
In the four years prior to its closure, the gallery underwent a period of expansion. In 2022, it opened a second space in Victoria Island, Lagos. The following year it moved from Fitzrovia to a larger space on Cork Street in Mayfair. It also regularly took part in art fairs, including Frieze London, Art X Lagos and Frieze New York. The gallery was due to take part in Liste Basel next month, but is withdrawing its application.
“The decision to wind down our activity is extremely painful, but it is a responsible step to address the financial challenges the gallery faces in a difficult market,” Varnava said in a statement. “I am profoundly grateful to the artists who have entrusted us with their work, the collectors, curators and collaborators who have supported our vision, and to our dedicated team who have contributed so much to the gallery’s legacy.”
The gallery has hired the corporate insolvency professionals BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP to “ensure that the ceasing of business operations is handled with full transparency and in accordance with professional and statutory requirements”, according to a statement.
