Image in background is a section of artwork, "The Spinning Wheel (somewhere at the center of the earth)," by Helena Westra
Kehinde “Kennii” Ekundayo is an independent curator specializing in global contemporary art. Since 2017, she has curated exhibitions in her home country, Nigeria, and internationally, working with artists, institutions, and collections alike to realize highly publicized projects. Of note is Idi Owena, a 63-year-spanning retrospective exhibition on Bruce Onobrakpeya’s artistry at the San Diego State University Gallery in Spring '22.
Ekundayo's current research is focused on the responses of artists to issues of conflict, forced migration, and environmentalism--three subjects that have proven critical to shaping the course of the millennium. It is particularly directed at (the activities of) refugee artists who have resettled in the United States since 1990 to date, delineating their contributions to contemporary art theory. She is also interested in the evolution of artistic processes over time -- exploring interpretations of human connections, and examining relationships between art and place. Her MA thesis titled, “Retelling the Story of Place: Aestheticizing the Double Jeopardy of Flooding in Brazil and Nigeria” is a comparative analysis of artistic interventions to the flood disasters in Brazil and Nigeria. Her writings have appeared across exhibition catalogs and academic publications. She is a recipient of the Jeanette and William Hayden Jones Fellowship in American Art and Culture.