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bio

Olivia Andrews (b. 2002) is a curator, artist, and researcher based in London, UK. Born in the U.S. to a Ugandan mother and Cape Verdean-American father, themes of roots, relationships, and nature are central to her practice.​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

Her first installation, In the Soil Lies the Stories of the Land, laid the foundation for a practice grounded in conversation-based research and the germination that comes from exchanging stories. Her curatorial approach prioritizes the creation of warm, accessible spaces for reflection in natural or community-centered environments. As this project was based in a small town in Massachusetts, it led her to continue a practice that introduces global concepts into focused, community-based spaces – seeking to gently open a portal between the local and the global. Rather than imposing new ways of thinking, she invites communities into dialogue through methods that resist pressure, persuasion, or elitism – favoring instead a slow, respectful unfolding of ideas.

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As her curiosities and imagination tend to lead her far from home, her work is informed by a migratory sensibility: the mixing of soils from different lands, peering into the unfamiliar, and the instincts that surface during moments of dislocation.

 

Andrews earned a BA in Art History and Film from Wesleyan University (U.S.), where she received the Alumni Prize in Art History and graduated with high honors for her thesis 21st Century Cape Verdean Visual Culture: Grappling with the Local and Global in Postcolonial Cape Verde. Following graduation from Wesleyan, Andrews completed a Master’s in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art in London.

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WRITING

Andrews, Olivia. “The Local and Global in Postcolonial Cape Verde.” MetroPoly Mag, 2024, 28–31.


Andrews, Olivia. 21st Century Cape Verdean Visual Culture: Grappling with the Local and Global in Postcolonial Cape Verde. BA thesis, Wesleyan University, 2024.


Andrews, Olivia. “Excavating the Histories of Mali’s Women Activists: A Look into Decolonizing African Women’s Archives.” With Project Archives des Femmes du Mali." Wesleyan and the World, 2022.

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

College of the Environment Summer Research Fellow. Wesleyan University, 2023

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John T. Paoletti Travel Research Fellow. Wesleyan University, 2023

GRANTS & AWARDS

Alumni Prize in the History of Art. Issued by Art History department at Wesleyan University 2024

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Khachig Tölölyan Fund Recipient. Issued by College of Letters at Wesleyan University 2023

EXHIBITIONS

Green Tide. Newcastle Draw Dock. London, UK. September 13, 2026​

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Maternal Poetics. Filet Gallery. London, UK. May 28- 31, 2026​

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Inanimate. Felt Space Gallery. Adelaide, Australia. March 25 - April 25, 2026​

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Form & Fable. Filet Gallery. London, UK. December 4-7, 2025

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Inanimate. Hundred Years Gallery. London, UK. July 26-27, 2025

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Thin-Skinned: A Fleur de Peau. Battersea Library Space. London, UK. May 22-29, 2025

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Thula Sana. Katakata. London, UK. May 1, 2025

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In the Soil Lies the Stories of the Land. Tony Andrews Farm. Massachusetts, US. October 8, 2023

RESIDENCIES

Cento Negra. AADK Spain. Blanca, Spain. August 2026

EDUCATION

Royal College of Art. MA in Curating Contemporary Art. London, UK | 2025​

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Wesleyan University. Bachelor of Arts in Art History, Minor in Film. Middletown, CT | 2024

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