Olayanju Dada

Olayanju was born in Nigeria and is a practicing studio artist. He holds a Bachelor of Art degree from Obafemi Awolowo University Nigeria  and a Masters degree in Contemporary Fine art practice from Leeds Beckett University.

The earlier part of Olayanju's artistic career was in the Gambia between 1996-1999 where he participated in the Yearly Roots Homecoming festival Art exhibitions. in 2002 he became involved with the Horniman museum in London as a storyteller for audience development about African artefacts. This role gave Olayanju the opportunity to work closely with cultural artefact but also a keen sense of  awareness and interest in 'objects' as agents for storytelling.This had a significant influence on his art practice continues to inform the focus of his practice which is about reintroducing displaced objects into the flow of cultural transactions through new compositions. Olayanju's art could be described as a sort of visual poetry grounded in narratives of societal endemic tensions and conundrums. His narratives are inspired by the poetics of congregating objects of dissimilar textures and materials.

Olayanju has exhibited in the Gambia , United Kingdom and Germany.