Alayo Akinkugbe (b. ) is an art historian, curator and writer. She is the founder of ‘A Black History Of Art’ which highlights Black artists, curators and thinkers from history and the present day. She is the author of the podcast ‘A Shared Gaze’, which hosts conversations with Black contemporary artists internationally, discussing their lives and practices. She is also the author of the column ‘Black Gazes’ in AnOther magazine, which champions Black artists, focusing on current exhibitions in London. Her work aims to continually champion emerging and forgotten Black artists from across the globe and across all periods of art history, in a bid to change the way art is taught and presented in the West, in favour of a more global and inclusive approach.

Akinkugbe graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in History of Art (2021) and completed the MA in Curating The Art Museum at the Courtauld Institute of Art (2022).

Her curatorial work includes ‘Entangled Pasts, 1768–now’, The Royal Academy, London (2024); ‘“baby hair and afros” (meditations on hair)’ (online), Vortic Curated (2023); ‘In the Black Fantastic’, Hayward Gallery, London (2022); ‘Sensitive Content’, Unit, London (2022). 

Akinkugbe contributed to ‘African Artists: From 1882 to Now’, published by Phaidon (2021) and her writings feature in Frieze, AnOther Magazine, Dazed, DADA Magazine, Art UK amongst others.