ARTIST STATEMENT
Tolulope Ami-Williams is a multidisciplinary artist who responds to the world by combining her body, media, method and materials to stage performances that interrogate the notion of identity (who we are), ancestrality(what is the combination that forms who you are genetically, spiritually, historically, culturally) and empowerment (how does this reflect in what we consider to be knowledge, our philosophy).
She seeks to explore the intricate dynamics of identity formation and negotiation, specifically examining the interplay of intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships within the realms of culture, society, and philosophy. This internal friction of encounter is projected by responding to external triggers related to sociopolitical issues such as climate, education, gender, racism and politics.
Incorporating text murals, sculpture installations, photography, and sound installations, Ami-Williams creates juxtapositions of elements, principles, materials, and symbolism. As an autobiographical artist, vulnerability plays an integral role in her creative process. By sharing her own childhood traumas, life experiences, and cultural background, she invites audiences to transcend their mental barriers and discover their points of entry to engage deeply with her work in the hope of finding healing.
Ami-Williams subtly incorporates charcoal into her practice as It contributes to her narratives, serves as a metaphor for blackness, and is a rejoinder against the production of charcoal due to its contribution to climate change.
Her art is aimed at becoming an evocative vehicle for social transformation, triggering feelings and questions that allow for retrospect, potential healing and carefully initiating conversations that poke at dysfunctional structures across a wide demographic range that lead to the exposure of invisible frontiers.
ARTIST BIO
Tolulope Ami-Williams is a performance artist, art educator, and creative writer. A graduate of Yaba College of Technology (2018), she is completing an MA in Contemporary Performance at Manchester Metropolitan University. Utilising her body, sound, poetic writing, and symbolic materials like masks and charcoal, she creates performances and installations that explore the relationship between internal and external factors in identity formation.
Since 2016, Tolulope has participated in Lagos community festivals, including the Iwaya Community Art Biennale, Artist Cross Road Festival, Boju Boju Night, and Eran Jije, combining performance art with social development workshops. In 2022, her exhibition "Harmony in Discord" showcased performance and installation at Alliance Française, Lagos. She also participated in the Rele Art Foundation’s Young Contemporaries boot camp and residency, creating "The Battle for Oneness," exhibited in Ekiti State. Later that year, she was an Access Art X Prize finalist.
In 2023, Tolulope explored decolonising restitution at Yinka Shonibare’s GAS Foundation, curated by Dr. Mahret Kupka. Her work was part of "ALT + SHIFT + ENTER," a multisensory group exhibition at Untitled Gallery, Lagos. She also performed "Bodies and Borders" at Treehouse Lagos.
A 2023/2024 Chevening Scholar and recipient of the 2023 Prince Claus Fund Seed Award, Tolulope has developed art education programmes with Nigerian museums. In 2024, she received the Z-Arts Centre seed fund, conducting workshops for children. She was commissioned to lead workshops culminating in her performance "Planted Not Buried" at the ISWAS Manchester Histories Festival, celebrating 200 years of Manchester Metropolitan University.
