Jelili Atiku is a multimedia artist politically engaged with human rights and justice. Through drawing, installation, sculpture, video, and performance, he strives to help viewers understand the world, and expand their understanding and experiences. For over a decade, Jelili has used his art to address the prevailing concerns of our times, especially those that threaten our collective existence and the sustenance of our universe. His work addresses the psychosocial and emotional effects of traumatic events such as violence, war, poverty, corruption, and climate change. 

Born in 1968 in Ejigbo (Lagos) Nigeria, Jelili was trained at Ahmadu Bello University and University of Lagos, where he was awarded a BFA and MFA respectively. He is presently the artistic director of AFiRIperFOMA, a collective of performance artists in Africa, and chief coordinator of Advocate for Human Rights Through Art (AHRA). He is a 2015 Prince Claus Laureate and, in 2018, was artist in residence/​professor at the Department of Africana Studies/​Brown Arts Initiative at Brown University (Providence, United States). He is currently the President of Ejigbo Indigenes Forum (EIF) and Chairman of Community Development Committee, Ejigbo LCDA (Lagos, Nigeria).

Jelili’s participation is supported by Le Lieu, centre en art actuel.