Bisi Silva, an independent curator based in Lagos, Nigeria, described how she perceived the “local” within the context of her international curatorial practice. She saw the local as “an expanded field of engagement and practice,” while simultaneously emphasizing her interest in the specificity of location and a localized artistic practice that allows audiences to identify with experiences that come out of “a very, very local set of realities,” she said. This resonates with many projects that she has spearheaded in her life including J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere: Moments of Beauty (2011) and The Progress of Love (2012), a transcontinental collaboration across three venues in the United States and Nigeria.

Bisi Silva was the founder and artistic director of the Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos (CCA Lagos), which opened in 2007 in Lagos, Nigeria. She was a renowned curator of contemporary African art, collaborating on several biennials such as Dakar Biennale, Bamako Photography Encounters, and Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art. Silva recently served as artistic director of the ART X Lagos Art Fair—West Africa’s first international art fair (2016). She wrote on contemporary art for international publications, including Art Monthly, Untitled, Third Text, M Metropolis, Agufon and for Nigerian newspapers such as This Day. Silva has passed away this week after a four-year battle with breast cancer.