About.
Photographer: Dunja Opalko
Yemi Awosile lives and works in London. Her studio practice is informed by cultural insights expressed primarily through textiles. The broader scope of her work combines a multi-disciplinary design practice with visual arts projects and social interventions open to the public. Recent projects include collaborations with Triennale Art and Industry - Dunkerque, Rubis mécénat, Frac Grand Large - Hauts de France, LAAC – Musée de France, and L’école supérieure d’art - Dunkerque. She has collaborated with organisations such as Tent Rotterdam, Tate Gallery, Contemporary And (C&) magazine and the British Council. Her work can be viewed in the Victoria & Albert Museum handling collection; and she recently installed two permanent public artworks in South West London commissioned by Thames Tideway.
Yemi Awosile is a member of the Stanley Picker Gallery & Dorich House Museum Advisory Group. She trained as a textile designer at the Royal College of Art and Chelsea College of Art. She currently teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London on the BA (Hons) course in Design; and teaches at the Royal College of Art as an associate lecturer on the Textile Design MA.
Current Projects
Grenfell NHS Health & Wellbeing Service
Public Artwork, Triennale Art and Industry - Dunkerque, France 2023 - 24
Recent Projects
Commission, Public Art, Town House, Kingston University
Telling Tales, British Council nAnA Catalyst Grant 2020
Thames Tideway Permanent Public Art Commission, London,
Teaching
Royal College of Art
Goldsmiths, University of London
Loughborough University, School of the Art
Talks & Workshops
Royal Society of Sculptors
TJ Boulting Gallery
Bloc Project
Institute of Contemporary Arts
Lighthouse Progress Bar
Design Museum
Tate Gallery
Camper
Victoria and Albert Museum
Chelsea College of Art & Design
London College of Fashion
Crafts Council
British Council
National College of Art, Lahore, Pakistan
Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan
Pakistan School of Fashion, Lahore, Pakistan
Beaconhouse School of Art, Lahore, Pakistan
Government Institute Polytechnique for Women, Karachi, Pakistan
Awards & Grants
British Council nAnA Catalyst Grant, Southern/West Africa & UK, 2020
British Council Development Grant, 2010
Institute of Material (IOM3) SPARK Research Grant, 2009
Design London, Imperial College Business Fellow, 2009
London Design Festival Fellowship, 2008
Valpak Sustainability Award, 2nd Prize, 2008
Design Cork Event, Joint 1st Prize, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2008
Marianne Straub Scholarship, 2007
Sir John Cass Scholarship, 2006
Selected Exhibitions
2019
Adult Education Centre Cafe - Margate Now Festival, Margate, UK
Africa by Design, Accra, Ghana
2018
Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa, supported by Art Logic
Common Thread supported by Crafts Council
Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
Digital Native, De La Warr Pavilion
2017
Bernie Grant Art Centre
4 Seasons | PEER - Offsight
Africa by Design, Nubuke Foundation, Accra, Ghana supported by Financial Times & Wallpaper Magazine
Stanley Picker Gallery
2015
Grand Arcade, Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture
2014
Sample, supported by Yevu Clothing
Africa Utopia, Southbank Centre
Materia, Domotex Asia, Shanghai | China
Creo Collective, Designers Block
Bark Cloth in Architecture, Arts and Design, UNESCO, IMM Cologne, Germany
2012
Tom Dixon Dock, London, UK
Centre Commercial Concept Store, Paris, France - supported by Veja footwear
2011
Oxo Tower Barge House, London, UK
100% Design, London Design Festival
2010
Variability, Brompton Quarter
2009
Bricolage Project, Brixton Village
Eco Home, Geffrye Museum - supported by SCIN Gallery
2008
Exploring Innovation, Royal College of Art
Design for Future Sustainability + Innovation, Belém Cultural Center, Lisbon, Portugal
2007
Global Cities in collaboration with British Architect Nigel Coats, Tate Modern