Ben FitzSabeth

Activist, Connector, Explorer, Idea generator, Jewish, Parent, Social entrepreneur, Startup, Writer/Editor

Ben Fitzsabeth is a Nigerian cultural curator, art dealer, and writer working at the intersection of art, people, and the wider culture. His emerging curatorial practice is guided by a central conviction: that culture is ultimately a human endeavour, shaped by the relationships, ideas, and encounters through which we make sense of the world. Interested in the social life of art and the ways culture moves between people, places, and disciplines, Ben approaches curation as both an intellectual practice and an exercise in connection. His interests span modern and contemporary art, gastronomy, design, hospitality, and the broader worlds of taste and cultural expression. Through editorial projects, exhibition discovery, and developing curatorial initiatives, he explores how artists, collectors, institutions, and audiences come into conversation. He is particularly interested in the stories that surround artworks, the cultural contexts that give them meaning, and the possibilities that emerge when people encounter perspectives beyond their own. Ben is the founder of OnView, an art and exhibition discovery platform, and A Theory of Taste, an editorial project exploring gastronomy and the wider culture. His work reflects a broader ambition to build platforms and experiences that make cultural participation more accessible, deepen engagement with art, and create opportunities for meaningful exchange. For Ben, curation extends beyond the selection and presentation of objects. It is also about people: bringing different sensibilities into the same room, creating the conditions for unexpected encounters, and recognising culture as something continually shaped by those who participate in it. Based between Uyo and Dubai, he is interested in the people, institutions, and ideas shaping contemporary culture across Africa and internationally.

I am passionate about art, cultural exchange, and the human relationships that give culture its meaning. Art does not exist in isolation. It emerges from particular histories, places, and lived experiences, and its significance continues to evolve through the people who encounter it. Artists create, collectors preserve, institutions interpret, and audiences discover. Between them lies an expansive network of relationships that shapes how art is understood and remembered. I am interested in the possibilities that emerge when these worlds meet. How might an exhibition change the way someone sees a familiar subject? What happens when an artist's work enters a new cultural context? How can a dinner, a conversation, or a carefully assembled group of people become an occasion for ideas to travel further? These questions inform my interest in curatorial practice. I see curation as a way of establishing connections between people, objects, and ideas, while creating room for curiosity, disagreement, discovery, and exchange. I am particularly interested in the development of African cultural ecosystems and in building meaningful connections between artists, collectors, institutions, and audiences across geographies. Ultimately, I believe culture is one of the ways we learn to understand one another. I want to contribute to the platforms, spaces, and experiences that allow that understanding to grow.

The most meaningful things we create are the connections that outlast the encounter. We often speak about culture through its visible expressions: artworks, exhibitions, books, buildings, and institutions. Yet behind every cultural object is a network of human decisions, relationships, and ideas. Culture is created by people, interpreted by people, and carried forward by people. This is why I believe curation can be understood as a practice of connection. To curate is to make choices about what deserves attention, what belongs in conversation with something else, and what possibilities might emerge when seemingly distant ideas are brought together. An exhibition can place unfamiliar histories side by side. A publication can introduce a reader to an artist they might never otherwise encounter. A gathering can create a relationship that changes the course of someone's work or life. These encounters matter because understanding rarely develops in isolation. It grows through exposure to other perspectives, through the friction of disagreement, and through the unexpected recognition of something familiar in another person's experience. I am interested in what happens when we design cultural experiences with these possibilities in mind. What if our institutions, exhibitions, publications, and gatherings were conceived not only as destinations, but as meeting points for people and ideas? The ambition is not simply to bring people together. It is to create the conditions for something meaningful to happen when they meet. Because culture is more than what we inherit or display. It is what we make possible for one another.

African Art and Culture, Art and Cultural Curation, Art Dealing, Cultural Programming, Cultural Strategy, Editorial Direction, Exhibition Discovery, Gastronomy and the Wider Culture, Modern and Contemporary Art, Storytelling and Writing

I first experienced TEDxUyo, in my hometown, as a young teenager. I arrived curious about the world beyond my immediate surroundings and left with a greater appreciation for the power of ideas to change how we see ourselves and what we believe is possible. What stayed with me was the experience of people bringing their ideas, experiences, and ambitions into a shared space. It showed me that learning could extend well beyond formal education, and that meaningful encounters with other people could fundamentally alter the direction of one's thinking. That early experience helped cultivate my interest in people, ideas, and the communities that form around them. In the years that followed, I attended TEDxLagos and TEDxPortHarcourt, encounters that expanded my perspective and introduced me to friends, collaborators, and mentors. Looking back, I recognise a thread that continues to run through my work: a fascination with the ways people exchange ideas, develop new perspectives, and create things together. My interests have evolved considerably since those early experiences. Today, I approach that same curiosity through art, cultural curation, writing, and the development of platforms that bring people into closer conversation with culture and one another. TEDx remains part of my personal story because it helped me understand something I continue to believe: that an idea becomes more powerful when it finds the people who can carry it somewhere new.

Solving very complex puzzles and speed reading (410+ WPM)