AYO is a Kampala-raised, Rotterdam-based multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, sound, performance, and film. Ayo's practice approaches artist-hood as a daily process of plural world-building. Through time-based and collaborative works, AYO researches how intangible cultural heritage —language, customs, indigenous knowledge, among others- can come into dialogue with material forms, shaping sites where histories are enlivened, shared or misunderstood.
Photographed by Christijn Groeneveld
Residency
2024 -2026: Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, NL
2022: Amant Foundation, New York, U.S.A
2021: Triangle-Asterides, Marseilles, France
Selected Exhibitions & * Film Screening
2026
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SO(N)R, world premiere, International Film Festival Rotterdam, (IFFR), NL
2025
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Collection research & commission, Textile Museum, Tilburg, NL
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Traces We Keep, curated by Yannik Güldner & Jeanette Bisschops, Brutus, Rotterdam, NL
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Traces of the intangible, on sun, shell & soil, Kers Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
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Open Studios, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, NL
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Art Rotterdam, Kers Gallery, NL
2024
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Gnistsambandet/ SPARKS, Lofoten International Arts Festival Biennale, curated by Kjersti Solbakken, NO
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Beetsooflaaseef, Huidenclub, NL (solo)
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Salon der Rotterdamse kunstenaars 1966/2024, De Doelen, Rotterdam. NL
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*ArtExplora X Triangle Asterides, Marseilles, FR
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Soundtracks of (no) return, Museumnacht Rotterdam X Huidenclub, NL
2023
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Unbalanced Power relations (Ladderkast Project) curated by Mirjam Westen, Galerie Phoebus, Rotterdam, NL
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That which chases away sorrow, two-person presentation with Kitty Maria, Singular Art Gallery, Art Rotterdam, NL
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Prospects, Art Rotterdam, NL
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When things are beings, Municipal Art Acquisitions, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL
2022
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An Invitation for liveness, For Your Reference, Amant, New York, U.S.A
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When things are beings, Municipal Art Acquisitions, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL
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A Door Ajar, Singing, Shimmer, Rotterdam, NL
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Singing off Key, Singular Art Gallery, Nijmegen (Solo)
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Unfair, Amsterdam, NL (Solo)
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*Rencontres Internationales Paris, FR & Berlin, GR
2021
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*25th Afrika Film festival, Leuven, BE
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Ateliers Portes Ouvertes, Triangle-Asterides, Marseilles, FR
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Material Context, Het Archief, curated by Nathalie Haartjes & Danny Giles, NL
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*Tent Online Cinema, Tent Rotterdam, NL
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On Display, Print& Play Group Exhibition, curated by Marieke van den Belt & Thieu Custers
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*Possessed, European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, GR
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Unbound Anthologies, a two-person exhibition with Katrina Niebergal, Available and the Rat, Rotterdam
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2020​​
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*A house of Many Parts, curated by Lucas Morin, Goethe Institute, Bangkok, Thailand
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Modern Day Griots and Tapped Train Conversations, a two-person exhibition with KateÅ™ina Gabriel Konarovská), Expoplu Experiment, Curated by Fenne Saedt, Post, NL
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Daybed, Weelde, curated by KONTRA Rotterdam, NL
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* We are Living Monuments, 66th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, GR
2019
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​Your voice Matters, Museum Arnhem De Kerk, Curated by Mirjam Westen, NL
Grants + Awards
2024
Cultuurfonds
Stichting Stokroos
Stichting Niemeijerfonds
CBK praktijkbijdrage
2023: Mondriaan Project Grant
2022: Amarte Fonds
2021:Guido Huysmans Young African Film Maker Award (Nominee)
2021: Mondriaan Stipend for Emerging Artists (Werkbijdrage Jong Talent)
2020: Willem De Kooning Master Research Award
2020: Putsebocht Award
2020: African Culture Fund
2017: ArtEZ Academic Merit Scholarship
Selected Bibliography + Conversations
2025
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Ayo weaves African trade history into a decolonial artwork, Willemijn De Jonge, Textile Lab
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Open Studios Rijksakademie, Metropolis m review by Lara den Hartog Jager
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Studio International interview: Rijksakademie Open Studios: Nora Aurrekoetxea, AYO and Eniwaye Oluwaseyi
2023
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When things are beings, Stedelijk Museum Publication
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Art Viewer, Ayo and Melvin Moti at Shimmer
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De onzichtbare stad, Operator radio X CBK Rotterdam, Art Rotterdam
2021​​
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Tip Off#5, Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam
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Material Context review, Metropolis M
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Don't touch, Artist publication
2020​
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Frames of Loss and Memory, Tijdschrijft Kunstlicht
2019
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Speaking with Others - An Interview with Pussy Riot, APRIA digital publication, ArtEZ.
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The body as ground for belonging, Studium generale ArtEZ & Honour's program, Zwolle
2018
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Voicing Entebbe publication
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Education
2018-2020: MA Fine Art (Cum Laude) Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2016-2017: BA Fine Art (Honour's Program) Propedeuse, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, The Netherlands
2008-2012: BBA, International School of Business & École Supérieure de Commerce, Montpellier, France