Making It: Péjú Oshin
How to calve out a non-linear route into the art world as a curator.
Curator, writer and lecturer Péjú Oshin is joined by Upgrade Yourself presenter Jonelle Awomoyi as she revisits her university town of Canterbury for an observational sketching session.
British-Nigerian and South London based, Péjú didn't grow up with a creative family or wealth to fall back on. From freelancing at the London Transport Museum while working part-time in retail, to lecturing at Central Saint Martins, becoming a Curator at Tate, working in the commercial art world with Gagosian as an Associate Director. She now leads Studio Sovereign, a creative thought studio and consultancy working across art, design and culture and lectures at London College of Fashion — proof her path has been anything but linear.
Skipping the traditional art history route, Péjú built her career through determination, side-hustles, and the support of mentors. She's candid about the rejections along the way, reframing them not as setbacks but as redirections that led her exactly where she needed to be.
“Having a no is okay — a no can be a redirection. Without those no's I wouldn't be here today.”
Péjú Oshin
Film Credits
Radford Nicholls
Director
Wes Gilpin & Radford Nichols
Producer
Eleanor Ritter-Scott
Executive Producer
Chris Fergusson
Director of Photography
Nick Chandler & Radford Nicholls
Additional Cameras
Jordan Copeland & Radford Nicholls
Editors
Okay Studios
Colourist