SANDRA MBANEFO-OBIAGO

SANDRA MBANEFO-OBIAGO
(Founder and Director of SMO Contemporary Art,)

Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago is an art curator, photographer, poet and award-winning filmmaker.

She is the founder and Director of SMO Contemporary Art, which specialises in curating art exhibitions in non-traditional gallery spaces.

Prior to establishing SMO, Mbanefo-Obiago covered for eight years, environment and development projects in sub-Saharan Africa as a photo journalist with WWF International, an environmental group. In 1998, she also founded Lagos-based Communicating for Change (CFC), a medium for development social enterprise, which became an important content provider for local and international television stations. Her award-winning films and radio programmes focused on human rights, women’s empowerment, HIV and AIDS, environmental issues, democracy and good governance, as well as art for development.

Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s African Leadership Initiative for West Africa (ALIWA). She received a Bachelor’s degree in education with a specialisation in English and German languages and literature from the University of Manitoba, as well as a Master’s in Telecommunications from Michigan State University.