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Ade A. Olufeko

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Ade Olufeko
Olufeko in New York City, 2008
Born1980 (age 45–46)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Other nameAdéolu
Alma materSt. Gregory's College
Occupations
  • Technologist
  • designer
  • entrepreneur
Known forFounding of Visual Collaborative, Founder of Wing Chun Foundation Lagos
Notable workNorth Star (2019)
Remember To Rise (2018)
Iyasile Naa (2017)
Fu Qingyun[a]
Traditional Chinese傅青雲
Simplified Chinese傅青云
Literal meaningFu Qingyun
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinFù Qīngyún

Ade Abayomi Olufeko[b] (born 1980) is a Nigerian-American technologist, designer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Visual Collaborative, an international platform for interdisciplinary projects in culture, innovation, and the humanities.[2][3]

Early life and education

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Ade Olufeko was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spent his formative years in Lagos, Nigeria, living in Surulere during the country’s Second Republic. He attended Unilag Staff School for primary education and St. Gregory's College in Obalende for secondary school.[4]

In the mid-1990s, he returned to Minneapolis, where he attended Camden and gave guest lectures to International Baccalaureate peers on cultural perspectives in English literature. He later enrolled at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, where he studied computer science with a focus on multimedia technologies.[5][6][7]

Career

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Technology and advisory

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Olufeko began his career in 1997 with a law internship at Hinshaw & Culbertson, where he assisted with digital integration for legal archiving. During the dot-com period, he transitioned into technology, working in interactive design, internet technologies, and hardware at companies including Ameritech, Imation, and IBM.[5]

While based in Minneapolis in the early to mid-2000s, he worked with musicians in New York City, including Amel Larrieux and Ladybug Mecca, on web design and digital strategy projects. He later relocated to New York City and joined Warner Music Group, where he contributed to its digital properties.[8]

Between 2004 and 2007, Olufeko worked in quality assurance at Shavlik Technologies and Adobe Systems, focusing on software testing and product stability. In 2007, he founded Visual Collaborative, a platform for artists and creatives that featured over 150 participants over a decade.[9] In 2016, he returned to IBM as a management consultant, working on technology-driven initiatives.[10]

After relocating to Lagos, Nigeria, Olufeko worked in the creative and technology sectors. Prior to settling in Lagos, he undertook consulting projects in Lagos and Abuja. He later served as a management consultant for The Avenue Projects.[5]

From 2021 to 2023, he served as the first chairman of the Creative and Entertainment Group within the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he advocated for policies supporting SMEs and creative enterprises, particularly in intellectual property.[11] He is described as an advocate for decentralized technologies in Africa’s creative economy.[12]

Olufeko has delivered talks at institutions including the University of Oxford, Yale University, and Harvard Business School on topics related to innovation, digital transformation, and Africa’s economy.[13]

He has also served as a guest moderator at London Business School and Columbia University, and has spoken at institutions including Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Lagos Business School on topics related to technology, creativity, and economic development.[14]

Humanities

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Art and design

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Wax print styled AYO Mancala, designed by Ade Olufeko

Self-taught as a digital painter and in mixed-media artistry, Olufeko's creative process as an avocation evolved over a decade. His exhibited work explores Africanfuturism and contemporary culture.[15]

In 2021, he introduced a wax print version of the indigenous Ayo mancala in Ankara fabric, initially producing 200 units for the consumer market. He later expanded the product line with Kente and Adire variants distributed across West Africa and its diaspora.[16] According to audited data, sales of locally made units exceeded 5,000.During a period of capital flight in Nigeria and a fire outbreak in one of the largest woodcraft communities, part of these proceeds supported artisans and their families.[17][18]

"Technological power without wisdom or cultural grounding produces sophisticated illusions, not genuine progress."

— Olufeko, discussing knowledge transfer across generations. The Guardian[19]

His artwork Remember To Rise, a collaboration with London Business School, and Iyasile Naa, a project with Oxford University, reflect his integration of technology and cultural narratives into visual storytelling.[20][21] In 2017, Ade Olufeko led a multidisciplinary project documenting Nigeria's Sungbo's Eredo earthworks. The team employed blockchain technology for metadata preservation alongside geospatial mapping and local oral history collection.[22]

Selected exhibitions include:

  • 2008: Undercurrent Arts, Wynwood Art District, (Miami, Florida)[23]
  • 2011: Queens Gambit,  Dual popups in Forest Hills and Fresh Meadows, (New York, New York)[24]
  • 2013: United for Kids Foundation. Whittemore House (Washington D.C.)[25]
  • 2013: United for Kids Foundation, Passion Ball, Civic Center, (Lagos, Nigeria)
  • 2013: Brave is Beautiful. Hudson Terrace (New York, New York)[c] [26]
  • 2014: 16th African Business Conference. Harvard Business School (Boston, Massachusetts)

Literary works

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As part of the North Star Electronic Catalogue for Visual Collaborative, Olufeko authored Voyager (Vol. 2),[27] Vivencias (Vol. 3),[28] and Supernova (Vol. 4) in 2019,[29] followed by TwentyEightyFour (Vol. 5) in 2020.[30] During the same period, he wrote The Enterprising Young African: Avoiding Pitfalls in Technology and Business (2019), which examines challenges in Africa’s evolving digital and business landscape.

Martial arts

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Olufeko has trained in several martial arts disciplines, including Wing Chun, Wudang Kung fu, Aikido, Iaido, and boxing, with instruction received in the United States, China, Japan, and Indonesia.[31][32][33][34] He trained in Ving Tsun within the Moy Yat lineage of the Ip Man system in New York City under Sifu William Moy.[35] During his martial arts training at Luofu Mountain, he was given the Chinese name Fu Qingyun by Shifu Wang Shizhi, a 15th-generation inheritor of the Wudang Sanfeng sect.[36]

In 2024, he established the Wing Chun Foundation Lagos, an organization focused on the practice and study of Wing Chun in Lagos, Nigeria, applying its principles to leadership development.[37][38]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Chinese name bestowed within Wudang martial arts context.[1]
  2. ↑ Simply known as Adé, Pronounced /ɑːˈdeɪ/; ah-DAY Yoruba: Adé Olúfẹ́kọ́ pronounced [a.dé o.lú.fɛ́.kɔ́].
  3. ↑ On January 17, 2013, Olufeko’s digital paintings were featured at a fundraiser held at Hudson Terrace in New York City, where Somaly Mam was the guest of honor. The event supported the Somaly Mam Foundation.[26]

References

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  1. ↑ "Wing Chun subsidiary rebrands as Fu Qingyun Wudang in Lagos". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Adeyinka, Salami (22 November 2025). "The Consequences of Noise: Analysts Revisit Olufeko's Public Absence". This Day. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "Bahia Shehab, Bobby Yan, others feature on Visual Collaborative". The Punch. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Ade Olufeko/Visual Colabo Q&A". November 11, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-06-02. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 T, Yetunde (March 2012). "Behind the Technology: Super Cool Nerd!". Made Magazine. Vol. 20. Lagos.
  6. ↑ Lawore, Mutiat (4 February 2025). "Olufeko Champions Intellectual Property, Cultural Identity For Nigeria's Creative Sector". New Telegraph. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  7. ↑ "How Africa can achieve digital sovereignty in the AI revolution". CNBC Africa. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Ibiwoye, Dotun. "The future is considerably female— Ade Olufeko". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  9. ↑ Kristy Samone (September 28, 2012). "Pop Up Art Exhibition". Archived from the original on 2018-02-15. Retrieved Feb 15, 2018.
  10. ↑ "LBS Africa Business Conference ABC Rolls Out Africa We See Campaign". YNaija. January 27, 2016. Retrieved Oct 15, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Ade Olufeko exits position as LCCI's chairman, creative and entertainment group". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  12. ↑ "Ade Olufeko: Early advocate for decentralized technologies in Africa's creative economy". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. 28 April 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  13. ↑ "Ade Abayomi Olufeko: A Mid-career Retrospective of a Multidisciplinary Technologist with Africa's 2020s in view". New Telegraph. Lagos, Nigeria. May 28, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  14. ↑ Solanke, Adesoji. "Students and Admissions Blog". London Business School. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  15. ↑ "Abayomi Olufeko" (PDF). NewWebPick. No. 37. Newwebpick ‘Design for Designers’. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  16. ↑ Guardian Nigeria (4 January 2022). "Recalcitrant conformist succeeds with AYO Mancala to remove analytical biases in strategy". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  17. ↑ "The Velocity of business innovation through design". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  18. ↑ "Seasoned Technologist Tweaked Physical Ayo Mancala That Fed Artisan Families". Leadership. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  19. ↑ "A framework for transmitting culture across generations". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  20. ↑ Agbana, Rotimi (13 November 2018). "Seun Kuti, Ozwald Boateng, others endorse Ade Olufeko's groundbreaking digital painting". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  21. ↑ "Iyasile Naa, A futuristic work in the critical mass third world creative sector". The Guardian. No. Arts. Lagos, Nigeria. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  22. ↑ "The Silent Reclamation: How an African monument is rewriting its own story". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. 17 May 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  23. ↑ "Visual Collaborative Art Exhibition, Miami 2008!". Ladybrille. April 15, 2008. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Local artist finds alternative way to break into the art scene". Knot Move. September 13, 2011. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  25. ↑ "United for Kids Foundation (UKF) Ambassadors Ball". MP Master Plan events. December 18, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  26. 1 2 "Brave is Beautiful at the Hudson Terrace in NYC". January 17, 2013. Archived from the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  27. ↑ Bankole, Idowu (17 June 2019). "Seun Kuti, Chris Uwaje, others to feature on American platform, 'Visual Collaborative". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  28. ↑ Agbana, Rotimi (19 August 2019). "Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Swaady Martin, others catalogued in Olufeko's Vicencias". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  29. ↑ Onyekwelu, Stephen (4 December 2019). "LIFE & ARTS Nse Ikpe-Etim, William Coupon, others drive creative sector SDG". BusinessDay. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  30. ↑ Onyekwelu, Stephen (6 May 2020). "Les Nubians, Rika, Chigul, Dakore feature in TwentyEightyFour". BusinessDay. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  31. ↑ "京における居合道と合気道と文化交流の基盤". Newstimes Japan. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  32. ↑ Okogba, Emmanuel (30 September 2026). "Ade Olufeko trains with Aikido Master Terumasa Hotta in Tokyo, Japan". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  33. ↑ "東京における居合道と合気道と文化交流の基盤". Rakuten. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  34. ↑ "Two martial arts lineages converge in quiet Jakarta exchange". The Guardian (Nigeria). 17 April 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "Mental Resilience and a Foundation". Standard Times Nigeria. Vol. 3. Lagos. 4 October 2024.
  36. ↑ "Wudang in Lagos: Discipline in an unstable economy". The Guadian, Conscience Nurtured by truth. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  37. ↑ Ihesiulo, Grace (5 January 2025). "Wing Chun and wellbeing: A Lagos experiment". Daily Times. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  38. ↑ Shojobi, Abisola (4 April 2026). "Lagos Founder Among Six Global Masters In Wing Chun Podcast". Independent. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
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