Cultural Identity by Ojo Agi

Nigerian-Canadian artist and scholar, Ojo Agi, uses her art as a way to promote representation of Black women in society. Her work is focused on pushing narratives about cultural identity, race and gender.

“I’m a daughter of Nigerian immigrants to Canada, and that simple fact permeates so much of my artistic and scholarly interests. I live at the intersections of multiple identities which have been marginalised throughout my 28 years; however, it is in these ‘contact zones’ (to borrow from literary scholar Mary Louise Pratt) that I’ve been most inspired to make art.” ~ Agi for It’s Nice That

Her Daughters of Diaspora (2015 - 2017) series explored this topic in detail. It featured portraits of Black women who are diverse in their beauty, done on brown backdrops to further accentuate their Black skin.

Agi uses this work to show that Africans don’t all just have one look. Rather, there’s a diverse range of African beauty which needs to be represented in the art scene and more broadly, in the society.

See some of her art work below.

Find more of Ojo Agi’s work and writing here.