Karimah Ashadu

In the autumn of 2026, KM21 will present the first major solo exhibition by Karimah Ashadu (b. 1985, London) in the Netherlands. The exhibition will feature, amongst other works, two monumental moving-image works, MUSCLE (2025) and Plateau (2021–22). These sensory, almost painterly films are set in Nigeria: the first, focuses on bodybuilders in the heart of Lagos’ slums; the second profiles undocumented tin-miners in Nigeria’s Jos-Plateau state. Through a powerful combination of film, photography and sculpture, Ashadu explores themes of labour, patriarchy, and notions of independence central to Nigeria’s history and its diaspora. 

Karimah Ashadu is a British-Nigerian artist and filmmaker who lives and works between Hamburg and Lagos. From 2014 to 2016, she was an artist-in-residence at De Ateliers in Amsterdam. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, where she was awarded a Silver Lion.

Karimah Ashadu’s solo exhibition will be on view at KM21 from 24 October 2026.