In less than a decade, Tokini Peterside has emerged as one of the continent’s most influential creative entrepreneurs, transforming African art from a niche interest into a force that commands global attention.
Through ART X Collective, the Lagos-based cultural enterprise she founded in 2012, Peterside has created a visionary platform that doesn’t just showcase African creativity—it elevates and exports it with elegance, strategy, and pride.
At the heart of her impact is ART X Lagos, the continent’s premier international art fair, launched in 2016. But beyond the fair’s polished exhibitions and star-studded panels lies Peterside’s larger mission: to reimagine the African creative economy as a legitimate engine for wealth, identity, and influence.
Peterside’s worldview was shaped early by a blend of international education and deep Nigerian heritage. She earned her law degree from the prestigious London School of Economics before going on to complete an MBA at INSEAD, one of the world’s top business schools. “My education taught me to analyze complex systems and think strategically, but it also reinforced my desire to build something authentic and impactful back home,” she says.
Her multicultural upbringing, both in Nigeria and abroad, gave her a rare fluency in navigating both global institutions and African traditions. This duality would become a cornerstone of her work: building bridges between creative communities in Lagos, Dakar, Accra, and major art capitals like London, Paris, and New York.
Before launching her own venture, Peterside began her journey at Moët Hennessy Nigeria, where she managed luxury brand strategy and experiential campaigns. One of her hallmark projects was the Hennessy Artistry campaign, a now-iconic initiative that fused music, nightlife, and lifestyle branding.
“It was my first real experience combining culture and commerce in a high-impact way,” she recalls. “I saw the power of storytelling—how it could shape perceptions and build ecosystems.”
That lesson stayed with her. But unlike many who view the creative sector as indulgent or secondary, Peterside saw the African creative economy as a powerful tool for economic development, soft power, and self-definition.
Read Also: Monique Ntumngia: Powering Africa’s Future with Renewable Energy and Vision
In 2012, Peterside founded ART X Collective, with a bold mission: to build globally resonant African cultural brands across diverse sectors—art, fashion, film, music, and food. She understood that while talent was abundant across the continent, infrastructure, visibility, and investment were sorely lacking.
Her first major move came in 2016 with the launch of ART X Lagos, the city’s first international art fair. What began as a risky experiment quickly grew into a globally recognized event, attracting galleries, collectors, curators, and patrons from around the world. Artists like El Anatsui, Yinka Shonibare, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and Victor Ehikhamenor have all passed through its platform.
But ART X is more than a fair—it is a catalyst. It has inspired new gallery openings, cultivated young collectors, and contributed to Lagos’ transformation into a bona fide cultural capital. “We needed to stop exporting our best talent without building systems to support them here,” Peterside asserts. “ART X is our answer to that gap.”
Peterside leads with a blend of strategic discipline and emotional intelligence. Her leadership philosophy is rooted in empathy, fairness, and coaching. “I believe in creating environments where people feel seen, challenged, and inspired,” she says.
She invests in people as much as in ideas, cultivating high-performing teams who are aligned not just by KPIs, but by purpose.
“My role is to hold the vision and empower others to build it with me,” she explains. “We don’t just want to do good work—we want to do meaningful work.”
Operating a creative business in Nigeria is not for the faint-hearted. Infrastructure gaps, bureaucratic red tape, inconsistent funding, and macroeconomic instability all present real risks. Peterside, however, has turned adversity into advantage.
“You learn to be agile,” she says. “Where systems are weak, you build your own. Where funding is scarce, you get creative. It’s exhausting, but it also forces innovation.”
Through partnerships with corporates, global institutions, and philanthropic organizations, ART X has managed to scale without compromising its integrity. And in a region where artistic platforms often collapse under financial strain, ART X remains resilient—a testament to Peterside’s clarity of mission and operational rigor.
Looking ahead, Peterside envisions a continent where creatives are not just celebrated, but equitably compensated; where intellectual property is protected, and where cultural production is seen as a critical component of national development.
She is expanding ART X Collective’s scope to include talent development, digital content, and pan-African collaborations. “We need more than events—we need institutions,” she says. “We must build the systems that will outlive us.”
Her message to emerging cultural entrepreneurs is clear: “Be bold in your vision, meticulous in your execution, and relentless in your belief. Africa doesn’t lack creativity—it lacks platforms. Be the platform.”
Tokini Peterside has built more than a brand—she has built a beacon. Through ART X, she has given African artists a home, a voice, and a global audience. And through her work, she is reshaping not just perceptions of African art, but the very architecture of its future.
As Africa’s creative economy enters a new phase of global visibility and economic viability, one thing is certain: Tokini Peterside will be at the center of that story, curating, connecting, and creating the future.
Photo Credit: The Folklore Group
