b. 1988, Nigeria; lives and works London, U.K.

Evan Ifekoya is an interdisciplinary artist who works in community organizing, installation, performance, sound, text and video. Whatever medium is employed, Evan understands their work as an extension of their calling as a spiritual practitioner. They view art as a site where resources can be both redistributed and renegotiated, whilst challenging the implicit rules and hierarchies of public and social space. Their work centres on blackness in abundance and, through strategies of space holding via ritual, sound and workshops, they enable a shared practice of living in order not to turn to despair. Whether in sonic or archival investigations and organising, they engage the somatic experience of listening, and consider and develop the healing potential of sound within spiritual ecologies. Notably, as part of this work, they established the collectively run and QTIBPOC (queer, trans*, intersex, black and people of colour) led Black Obsidian Sound System (B.O.S.S.) in 2018.

Evan Ifekoya was nominated for the 2020 Turner Prize as part of Black Obsidian Sound System. Upcoming and recent projects include Three States of Water, Aspex, Portsmouth (2024); Tales of Ecstacy, Lagos Biennial 3, Lagos (2022-23); Resonant Frequencies, Migros Museum, Zurich (2022); The Only Good System is a Sound System, with Black Obisidan Sound System, FACT, Liverpool (2021); No 1. Start From a Pace of Abundance, Everyday Heroes, Hayward Gallery, London (2020); Ritual Without Belief, Drowning in a Sea of Data, La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2019); and Disco Breakdown, P4: The Lotus in Spite of The Swamp, New Orleans Bienniale, New Orleans (2017).

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