IYA BEJI EXHIBITION

IYA BEJI

18th – 21st April 2026

A new exhibition is coming to The Sidings, tracing Angie Aniwura’s journey through illness, spirituality, recovery and renewal.

For over two years, artist Angie Aniwura and a long-term creative collaborator have been developing a quietly held joint project, one shaped by trust, silence, and shared making. Neither artist has publicly discussed the work during its development, and neither holds ownership over the outcome. The result is a deeply collaborative body of work that will now be shown together for the first time.

The exhibition opens from 28th – 21st April, running daily from 10am – 6pm in Unit G19 here at The Sidings, bringing together works by Aniwura and other contributors from the Aniwura Collective.

This exhibition traces Angie Aniwura’s personal and spiritual journey through illness, recovery, and transformation. It reflects on two major medical turning points in her life, a hysterectomy in 2013 and a breast cancer diagnosis in 2023.

In response to these experiences, Aniwura turned towards her indigenous spiritual framework rooted in Yorùbá cosmology as a path of healing, grounding, and renewal. This cosmology becomes not only a reference point but an active structure within the work shaping both process and meaning.

At the centre of the exhibition are six Ìyabejì paintings, created in collaboration with artist Lucy SM Johnston. These works operate as a core visual and conceptual anchor for the show, exploring duality, embodiment, and continuity through layered collaborative practice.

Rather than functioning as individual authorship, the paintings emerge from an ongoing exchange between artists, forming a shared visual language that resists singular interpretation.

Alongside the central paintings, the exhibition includes storytelling and collective artworks contributed by members of the Aniwura Collective. These works document not only artistic response, but also acts of witnessing, capturing aspects of recovery, transformation, and spiritual evolution over time.

The collective dimension of the exhibition expands its focus beyond the individual, positioning healing as relational, shared, and continually unfolding.

Featuring works by:

Dotun Adegoke (@myblackfestivals)
Andreyaa Hora (@andreyaahoraart)
Anthony Adeleye (@edadudutv)
Peju Alatise (@peju.alatise)
Bénédicte Kurzen (@benedicte_kurzen)
Lucy SM Johnston (@lucysmjohnston_art)

Private View: 17th April, 6pm – 9pm

📍 The Sidings, Waterloo – Unit G19

Opening prayers and offerings will be led by Awoyinfa Elebuibon.

The exhibition will also raise funds in support of Macmillan Breast Cancer, who supported Angie throughout her recovery.

Co-curated by @aniwura.art & @creativedimensionart