Yagazie Emezi is a multidisciplinary artist in photography, textile and sculpture focused on unearthing global patterns of inequity from an indigenous point of view. Her practice is informed by her extensive background in photojournalism covering global issues around corruption, environmental failure, and the extension of colonial policies into current international relations. Yagazie’s self-portraiture works are rooted in stories of identity and cultural preservation, integrating traditional motifs and practices with contemporary artistic techniques.
She is a recipient of the 2018 inaugural Creative Bursary Award from Getty Images and a 2018 grant from the U.S Consulate General in Lagos for her photographs addressing the reality of sexual violence against women and the vulnerable young in Nigeria. Yagazie was among the 2019 inaugural artists selected for Kehinde Wiley’s art residency at Black Rock, Senegal, was 2019 nominee of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and the first black African woman to photograph for National Geographic Magazine. In 2020, she was awarded The National Geographic Storytelling Grant to complete ‘Another Tale By Moonlight’. She was shortlisted for the 2023 Contemporary African Photography Prize and the German Peace Prize for Photography. Yagazie has exhibited her works around the world in various galleries and museums including an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, ‘New Photography’ 2023.
Yagazie Emezi is a multidisciplinary artist in photography, textile and sculpture focused on unearthing global patterns of inequity from an indigenous point of view. Her practice is informed by her extensive background in photojournalism covering global issues around corruption, environmental failure, and the extension of colonial policies into current international relations. Yagazie’s self-portraiture works are rooted in stories of identity and cultural preservation, integrating traditional motifs and practices with contemporary artistic techniques.
She is a recipient of the 2018 inaugural Creative Bursary Award from Getty Images and a 2018 grant from the U.S Consulate General in Lagos for her photographs addressing the reality of sexual violence against women and the vulnerable young in Nigeria. Yagazie was among the 2019 inaugural artists selected for Kehinde Wiley’s art residency at Black Rock, Senegal, was 2019 nominee of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and the first black African woman to photograph for National Geographic Magazine. In 2020, she was awarded The National Geographic Storytelling Grant to complete ‘Another Tale By Moonlight’. She was shortlisted for the 2023 Contemporary African Photography Prize and the German Peace Prize for Photography. Yagazie has exhibited her works around the world in various galleries and museums including an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, ‘New Photography’ 2023.
