Adejoke Tugbiyele is a Nigerian-American multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker and queer activist. She was recently appointed as the U.S. Representative of Solidarity Alliance for Human Rights in Nigeria, following the signing of the anti-gay bill by President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria, and after successfully helping to organize a Global Day of Protest in March 2014 at the Nigerian Embassy in New York. Tugbiyele’s artwork has been on exhibit at numerous reputable institutions including the Museum of Arts and Design, The Jewish Museum of New York, The Museum of Biblical Art, The Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and The United Nations. She has also exhibited internationally, represented by Omenka Gallery in Nigeria, at the 6th Annual Joburg Art Fair (2013), Johannesburg, South Africa. This year, her short film AfroOdyssey IV: 100 Years Later will premiere in Spain at the international video art festival LOOP Barcelona 2014 as well as in Poland at the Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw. The film artistically investigates the cross section of spirituality and sexuality among LGBTI persons in Nigeria.

Tugbiyele is the recipient of several awards including the Fulbright U.S. Student Fellowship 2013-14, The Amalie Rothschild Award (2013) and the William M. Phillips Award for best figurative sculpture (2012) at Maryland Institute College of Art. She has appeared on CNN International as a queer artist/activist and has published in The Huffington Post, The Feminist Wire and Omenka Magazine. Tugbiyele received a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Maryland Institute College of Art (2013) and is currently an Artist in Residence at Gallery Aferro. Her work, AFRIKEA (2009), has received mention by art critic Roberta Smith in the New York Times and now sits permanently in the contemporary African art collection of the Newark Museum.

Check out Adejoke Tugbiyele’s personal website!