Jemiye Ugwujide

Jemiye Ugwujide (b. 2003, Westminster, UK) is a Black, queer, non-binary artist of Igbo and Sotho descent, currently completing a BA Honours in Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Working across photography, printmaking, collage, video, and installation, they create visual narratives exploring the intersection of Blackness, queerness, and the African diaspora.

Ugwujide’s practice is deeply rooted in personal experience, each work functions as both intimate reflection and collective recognition. Each piece serves as a visual timeline mapping their experiences, struggles, and growth, creating dialogue between who they were, who they are, and who they are becoming. Their practice incorporates their cultural heritage, language (particularly Igbo), and symbolism, imagining these frameworks through the contemporary queer experience. They examine what it means to hold multiple identities while existing between worlds.

Working independently, Ugwujide shoots, edits, and creatively directs their own photographic work, which ranges from self-portraiture and conceptual photo shoots to documentary projects. Their printmaking and collage work layers personal imagery with cultural symbols, creating new visual languages for identity and belonging.

Ugwujide has exhibited at Turbine Art Fair (Cape Town), Gala Archive (Johannesburg), and Wits Art Museum, with work featured in GAY- TIMES “Queer Joy” exhibition in London. Their photography has appeared in GAYTIMES, Homeschool Mag (Berlin/New York), and Daily Maverick. They have also worked professionally as a photographer and assistant for Mail & Guardian, Daily Maverick, and Homeschool Mag.