About

Ayodeji Rotinwa is a writer and editor interested in culture, art and politics and often, all how three collide, producing across text and audio.

In his art writing practise, he writes about contemporary artistic, cultural production, movements, trends in art communities and markets across the African continent. For years now, he has been reporting extensively on the socio-economic, political, diplomatic and cultural significance of the restitution of African artefacts by Western museums across Bénin Republic, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal. He regularly and critically reviews artists, art making and exhibitions out of West Africa. He also documents how artists are responding to current political moments

In his journalism, he has covered politics and its intersection with social justice, press freedom and human rights. He has reported on and from multiple countries including Nigeria, Israel, Qatar, U.S.A., Morocco, Cameroon, covering: how migrants in Morocco use music as a tool of assimilation and harmful immigration policies hurting African asylum seekers in New York City. He regularly reports on, commissions and edits deep dives into the backlash against queer and women’s rights across Africa in the context of ongoing global far-right shift. In the wake of Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel and the latter’s disproportionate response and downstream effects on press freedom, he reported on how the war has changed rules of objectivity and neutrality in American newsrooms.

His cultural reportage has cast a spotlight on the contribution of women to arguably Africa’s most prominent music genre, Afrobeats; he has reported on the business model and argument for Nigeria’s cultural industries including visual art, music and film. He has also documented how African culture makers and shifters belong to a global conversation about their respective practises.

His work has been published in New York Times, Financial Times, Reuters, Radio Workshop, Art Forum, Frieze, National Geographic, The Continent, THISDAY Nigeria, Mail & Guardian South Africa, amongst others.

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Header Photo Credit: Emmanuel Oyeleke / taken at Emmanuel Oyeleke Studios, as part of profile documentation by The Future Awards 2017. Rotinwa was nominated for Journalist of the Year.