Alimi Adewale is a Nigerian contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores questions of urbanisation, migration, memory, and cultural identity. Working across drawing, painting, installation, performance, and public engagement, his work reflects the lived realities of rapidly transforming cities while examining the broader social and political forces that shape everyday experience.
Adewale’s artistic approach is rooted in both observation and participation. His projects often draw on the rhythms of urban life, informal economies, and the movement of people across cultural and geographic borders. Through this lens, he investigates how communities adapt to globalisation while maintaining local histories and cultural memory. His work has been exhibited internationally and is recognised for its thoughtful engagement with social structures and contemporary African urban narratives.
In this episode of the Pearl Lam Podcast, Pearl Lam sits down with Adewale alongside curator Maria Bojan to reflect on the forces shaping contemporary art today. Their conversation moves through questions of authorship, cultural context, and the frameworks that continue to influence how art is produced and interpreted globally. The discussion considers the legacy of the Western tradition of “art for art’s sake,” and the expectation that artists align themselves with clearly defined cultural or political identities.
Together, they explore how taste and institutional frameworks have historically shaped the global art canon, while also examining the persistent “fetish of authenticity” that often influences the reception of non-Western artists within international discourse. Looking beyond these structures, the dialogue reflects on what it means for artists working across China, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere to engage with one another on their own terms through shared ideas, artistic rigour, and evolving forms of cultural exchange.
Follow Alimi Adewale on Instagram.
