Home ⟩ About

The 1897 is a creative agency that focuses on amplifying Black and African Art through collaboration and meaningful discourse.

Our mission is to act as a global connector, building an international community dedicated to celebrating and advancing Black and African art across the diaspora.

With "collaboration" at the epicentre of our approach, we are committed to curating diverse programmes in alliance with art professionals and practitioners around the world. Our programmes will showcase works by artists across all mediums and experience levels. By placing a varied cohort of artists in conversation with each other, we shall explore the breadth and complexity of the Black and African experience.

Through immersive, multi-sensory experiences, The 1897 engages with the myriad possibilities of seeing and experiencing art.

The 1897 seeks to explore common threads of heritage, identity, memory, and consciousness.

The agency operates across 2 departments: The 1897 Gallery and The 1897 Advisory.

  • Sosa Omorogbe is a creative consultant, curator, art dealer and finance professional with extensive experience in project management and client relations. Prior to founding 1897, she co-founded SABO Art, a leading art advisory and curatorial firm.

    She began her career in the arts handling fair programming as well as VIP and Collector relations at ART X Lagos, West Africa’s premier international art fair. Following this, she proceeded to work with

    institutions within the African arts ecosystem, including The Ben Enwonwu Foundation and Yinka Shonibare CBE’s Guest Artist Space (G.A.S) Foundation.

    Sosa’s expertise also extends to classical African art with a focus on the ‘Benin Bronzes’, on which she has conducted in-depth research.

    Outside of art, Sosa’s professional experience includes Corporate Finance, focusing on Investment Banking.

    She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Columbia University in New York and a Certificate in Art History and Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London.

Founder

sosa@the1897.com