fageyinbo, bimpé
Bimpé Fageyinbo is a Nigerian artist—a poet, filmmaker, and photographer. Her work utilizes poetry, film, prose, and documentary photography to answer our most profound inner questions, exploring issues related to race, culture, faith, introspection, and identity. Fageyinbo’s literary and visual storytelling is notably poetic, experimental, and conceptual—organically weaving the human experience with social anthropological perspectives.
Fageyinbo is the author of so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness (2010) and what was me (2017), the first two books of poetry in a continuing memoir series. Her recent collaborative work includes the A Womb of Violet Anthologies, archived in collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Library of Congress.
Fageyinbo’s narrative-short film, boju weyín (2022), is an adaptation of her 2010 book, so maybe that’s the bees weakness. The film uses experimental storytelling techniques to explore love, heartbreak, and grief and invites viewers to share in poignant moments of reflection and a path toward healing. boju weyín has received multiple film festival Official Selections and was awarded Honorable Mention for Best Narrative Film at the Los Angeles Film Awards (March 2022).
In 2023, Fageyinbo was commissioned to write and perform her poem “freedom for freedom” at the historic Harriet Tubman Monument Unveiling ceremony, hosted by Audible and the City of Newark, NJ. Adapted into a poetry film, “freedom for freedom,” directed by Yuri Alves and produced by DreamPlay Media, was awarded the 2024 Jury’s Stellar Award at the 43rd Thomas Edison Film Festival.
Fageyinbo is a 2024 NJ State Council on the Arts Fellow, and is currently working on a third book of poetry, a photo documentary about mobility in Nigeria, and continues to teach at the university level, teaching courses in Journalism and Media, Creative Writing, African Diasporic Literature, and Film.
cirriculm.vitae
EDUCATION
B.A Journalism and Media Studies /Rutgers University
M.A Public Affairs & Administration / Rutgers University
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
Fageyinbo, Bimpé (2017) what was me
Fageyinbo, Bimpé (2010) so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness
Contributing Author:
“A Womb of Violet Vol. I: An Anthology” (2019)
“A Womb of Violet Vol. II: Blackness, Resistance, and Being” (2021)
Archived in Collections:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, The Free Black Woman’s Library, The Newark Public Library
POETRY
“freedom for freedom” (Directed by Yuri Alves, Produced by DreamPlay Films)—2024 *AWARD*
In The Absence Of, Rock and A Hard Place, Speaker of the House/SPR 20 ISSUE—YARD CONCEPT
FILM
boju weyín (2022) *AWARD*
-Official Selections: [Los Angeles Film Awards, Venice Shorts of California Film Festival, Women in Media International Film Festival, NMOA Black Film Festival]
+Honorable Mention for Narrative Film / Los Angeles Film Awards (March 2022)
PHOTOGRAPHY
Philanthropy Journal / April 2017
ESSAY
FIGHTING FOR HOPE IN IMPOSSIBLE TIMES, AN ESSAY BY BIMPÉ / Symphony of Survival Archive—Newark Symphony Hall—July 2020
EDITORIAL CITATIONS & PRESS
Brittney Leeanne Williams—Black Women At/In The Bend by Niama Safia Sandy / April 2021—Alexander Berggruen, New York, NY
“Space Travel” by Ashley Okwuosa / (w)rote newsletter—Sept. 2021
READINGS + INVITED TALKS (SELECT)
Thomas Edison Film Festival / Princeton University Lewis Center for the Arts —Feb. 2024
Harriet Tubman Monument Unveiling / Audible Innovation Cathedral—March 2023
All Arts TALKS: Symphony of Survival / All Arts WNET/PBS—Aug. 2020
Women @ NJPAC & Zonta Club—Series: A Breath of Fresh Air—May 2020
Bad Ass Art Woman Awards, Newark, NJ / Nov. 2019
what was me: Express Newark, Newark NJ / 2017
so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness: Mount Vernon Public Library—The Central Library of Westchester, NY / 2012
EXHIBITIONS + PUBLIC PROGRAMS (SELECT)
“Liberation” / PBS—Feb. 2024
Curator—BURN II: BODY, BEAUTY, REPRESENTATION & GIRLHOOD
(Artist- Dr. Antoinette Ellis) / Akwaaba Gallery—Sept. 2023
Newark Arts Festival 2014, 2020
Magnitude & Bond (Mural): Four Corners Public Arts Projects, Newark NJ, Nov. 2019
Art on The Vine Convening: Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 2019
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY (SELECT)
Comot for Road: The Fight for Mobility, Documentary Photography Series, Lagos Nigeria, 2017-Present
Look for Colors, Photography Series, Nigeria, 2016
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Adjunct Professor, School of Communications and Media
(Montclair State University/2022- Present)
Adjunct Professor of Journalism & Media Studies, Department of Arts, Culture + Media
(Rutgers University-Newark/2016-2021)