Kibibi Ajanku makes and presents ethnically charged art. Her passion embodies the thrust of the African Diaspora. Her work is eclectic and innovative. It is ancient while at the same time new-world and always changing. Ajanku’s muscle as a visual artist spans from contemporary fine art to village inspired craft. Her artistry is layered with indigenous folkways. Her work embodies research, identity, and the gathering of elements of African retention reaching back into ancestral histories and stories that impact the world today. Kibibi Ajanku’s passion for art began early. She was nurtured by “grandma’s hands” as she sat at the knees of a quilt making maternal grandmother. This led to an artistic journey with an indigenous aesthetic. Ajanku is empowered by international training and workshops: adire fabric design in Osogbo, Nigeria; tapestries in Theis, Senegal; adinkra fabric printing and kente weaving in Kumasi, Ghana; mud cloth acquisitions from the Mali railway; embroidery work in Medina, Senegal; and Orisha attire in Havana, Cuba. Ajanku has traveled the African diaspora to study, teach, and work with many textile masters. Ajanku says, “If presented properly, art is the perfect vehicle for intercultural understanding.”

Kibibi was the 2021 recipient of the Common Ground on the Hill Fine Arts and Crafts Award for Excellence in the Traditional Arts.

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