Rele gallery opens in London, showcases African artists and Yoruba culture to a global audience.

Written by Ade Olusola Kunmi

We Came With The Last Rain at the Rele Gallery in London. Artist – Alatise. Photograph: Peju Alatise.

Adenrele Sonariwo first establihed her Rele gallery in Nigeria, Los Angeles, and now Mayfair, to highlight the best African artists.

Adenrele Sonariwo, a Nigerian gallerist born in the United States, was four years old when her family relocated to Africa in 1990, after her father inherited the role of a Yoruba traditional king in south-western Nigeria.

Sonariwo, who was named one of New African magazine’s 100 most prominent Africans in 2022, recalls her childhood experience, coming out from a yoruba royal family. She reminisce on when she attends coronation ceremonies and going in a long parade before her father received the crown, which is rotated among a few reigning households.

“There was a lot of ceremony and pageantry. “I’d go to school and come back, and there was always something going on in and around the palace,” she adds.

“There was a whole programme of events, stages were constantly being built, there was drama, music, food, fashion and just an outright show of deep tradition and culture.”

Yoruba culture is complicated, according to Sonariwo. “My dad was a traditional ruler of more than 32 towns for 26 years and even between those towns cultures differ,” according to her.

Adenrele Sonariwo

Sonariwo recently found that her Oríkì, a song or poetry given to Yoruba youngsters, was the same one given to Peju Alatise, the Nigerian artist behind the new London gallery’s debut exhibition.

We Came With The Last Rain, an exhibition by Alatise at Rele Gallery in London, delves into Yoruba folklore and mythology.

“It has been almost 10 years since she opened in Lagos and, while our artists were getting recognition locally, I felt like these artists could benefit from the growth and exposure that would come from showing internationally,” she adds regarding the establishment of the Mayfair gallery.
Sonariwo led the curatorial team for Nigeria’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017. The fact that the African country was not represented at the biennale “felt like a problem to me”, she says. Alatise was one of the three Nigerian artists she chose for the pavilion.

“The artists I work with are my biggest inspiration,” she continues. “It’s the fact that some of them come from low-income backgrounds and are able to recognise how their art might affect the course of their generation. That is the most important thing for me.”

As one of 17 siblings, Sonariwo’s family has taught her “a lot about diplomacy, about politics,” which she takes to her work.

“You must learn how to read people’s emotions and personalities. It teaches you a great deal about yourself. I adore how it has helped me navigate life, even now.”