1st of April is always a delight and brings in memories, even if not as popular April fools day is still a thing today and used to be so much fun back then in school with students and teachers preparing pranks no one would see coming, and others guarding themselves against potential pranks. It all brings me back to my 'Young Life Series' and how these experiences shape our identity and contribute to the person we are today.
Happy New Month
ihe omuma maka mmepe mmadu ( Knowledge for human Development )
Oil paint and Fabric on paper
2024
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#ogbememarvel #contemporaryart #africanart #africancontemporaryart #aprilfoolsday
A few favourites from @investeccapetownartfair 🫶🏾❤️🔥
Old loves and new discoveries. Never taking for granted that my job constantly encountering beauty, creativity and brilliance at this scale.
Installation day 🤍
📍 Booth L7, Lookout Section
Easily the smoothest install I’ve ever had, which feels like a small miracle during fair week. Grateful for an easy setup and for the privilege of presenting the works of these incredible artists. Thank you @onakoya_afeez , @iam_roisin , and @yanma_f .
Very proud to be showing To Be Held, To Be Seen at @investeccapetownartfair and to be expanding The 1897’s presence on the continent in this way.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Cape Town this weekend ❗️
2025 Recap 🌪️🤍
From Accra to Lagos, London to Abu Dhabi — a year of exhibitions, fairs, conversations, and a lot of moving parts.
Some projects were small and intimate, others lived on much bigger stages. All of them pushed the work forward and helped clarify what The 1897 is (and isn’t).
I’m grateful to the artists, collaborators, partners, and everyone who showed up — collaborated, supported, questioned, collected, or simply spent time with the work.
Looking ahead to 2026 with more clarity, stronger foundations, and a few new ideas in motion 👀
#The1897 #2025Recap #AfricanArt #ContemporaryArt #ArtAdvisory
Art fairs are often experienced as carnivalised theatres of commerce, where the drama of acquisition meets the intimidation of the white cube. Abu Dhabi Art 2025, however, operated on a different wavelength under the direction of Dyala Nusseibeh. Galleries rejected the predictable choreography of display for something subtler: a slow, rigorous dance of space, light, and thought.
Here are seven gallerists who embodied the Fair’s spirit and made a lasting impression in the article by @sanakrishna89 👉 click the link in our bio!
Contemporary Lynx was a proud media partner of the Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2025.
@galerie_isa , @lawrieshabibi , @hassan.saradipour - @saradipour.art , @leilahellergallery , @galleriacontinua , @niruratnamgallery , @sosamimosa - @_the1897
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Photos: (1) Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2025, the opening night. Courtesy of the Abu Dhabi Art; (2) Ashwin Thadani, founder of Galerie Isa. Courtesy of the gallery. Photo by Cedric Ribeiro; (3) Asmaa Al-Shabibi, co-founder of Lawrie Shabibi. Courtesy of the gallery. Photo by Sueraya Shaheen; (4) Hassan Saradipour, founder of SARAI Gallery. Photo by @masha.usenok . Courtesy of the gallery; (5) Leila Heller, founder of Leila Heller gallery. Courtesy of the gallery; (6) Lorenzo Fiaschi, co-founder of Galleria Continua. Courtesy of the gallery, photo by Nestor Kim; (7) Niru Ratnam, founder of Niru Ratnam gallery. Courtesy of the gallery; photo by Damian Griffiths; (8) Sosa Omorogbe, founder of The 1897 gallery. Courtesy of the gallery.
“Divine, but Disowned.”
I was not born in a temple
I was dragged out of fire,
my name stitched from curses,
my blood baptized in refusal.
The gods looked away
when I opened my eyes.
Heaven denied me,
so I built my own throne in the dark.
Look at me.
I wear their stolen symbols
like war paint.
I carved holiness out of bone and betrayal.
They said divinity is obedient.
I say divinity is a wound that never kneels.
I prayed once.
Nothing answered.
So I answered myself.
Now my silence commands storms.
Now my scars glow like scriptures.
Now my breath rewrites what they called sacred.
I am not their angel.
I am not their devil.
I am the mistake they tried to bury
the truth that clawed its way back.
The skulls behind me are my witnesses.
The hands around me are my past lives
trying to hold me down
and lift me up at the same time.
Every finger is a memory.
Every shadow is a betrayal.
Every crown is a lie I survived.
I walk between worlds,
a seeker without a map,
an eternal exile from their heaven,
an outlaw in their hell.
They fear me
because I was never chosen
I chose myself.
They call me blasphemy.
I call it freedom.
They call me broken.
I call it evolution.
I am divine,
but disowned
a god that learned to grow teeth.
And if my holiness makes you uncomfortable,
good.
That means it’s working.
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#flowers #photo #fashion #model #melanin #baby #woman #ebony #peace #style #artist #light #black #clothes #happy #sky #art #colour #flowers #queen
Sosa Omorogbe, curator and founder of @_the1897 , spends her days moving between conversations, cities, and ideas, thinking deeply about African art, culture, and where they sit in the world today. Her way of seeing is shaped by curiosity, travel, and a quiet attentiveness to context.
To catch a glimpse of her lighter side, we threw a few instinct-based This or That questions her way. No prep, just whatever came first.
Sosa Omorogbe (@sosamimosa ) is turning stories into experiences and connecting Nigerian artists to the world. With the 1897 Gallery (@_the1897 ), she showcases their work, most recently at ART X Lagos 2025 and the Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2025.
In today’s #MCNWorkLife, she shares her journey from investment banking to curating, the lessons that helped carve her path, and how she’s building bridges between Nigerian artists, collectors, and the wider Black diaspora.
Tap the link in bio to read ❤️
📸: @sosmimosa
#MarieClaireNigeria #ContemporaryArt #ArtCurator #AfricanCreatives
