Curator · Philosopher · Activist · Community Organiser
I work across contemporary art, philosophy, human rights and community organising. Currently working as the Curator of Africa and the African Diaspora Collection at Weltmuseum Wien.
REMESO Linköping University, Norrköping
A practice with many forms and one political commitment.
I curate, organise, research, teach and speak because culture shapes how we live together.
My work explores how gender and migration shape knowledge, power, and belonging.
Questions
Who has the right to shape public memory?
How can art make difficult political thought public?
What changes when communities become authors rather than subjects?
Areas of practice
The roles overlap. Each one gives me a different way to think, make and act.
01
I develop exhibitions, collections, festivals and public programmes that connect artists, histories and communities.
02
Through Afro Rainbow Austria and wider partnerships, I work with queer African and diaspora communities on rights, belonging and collective power.
03
I write, teach, facilitate and speak about migration, race, gender, memory and how ideas become public action.
Selected work
A few projects that show how the different parts of my practice meet.
Weltmuseum Wien · 2026
Artists, researchers and communities discuss how African and Black histories enter museum collections, displays and public memory.
Art, ritual and public space · 2025
Performance, storytelling and sound come together around water, migration, ancestral practice and queer life in the African diaspora.
Lecture and research
A lecture on African and diaspora queer perspectives, migration and the politics of belonging.
Profile
Mag.art. Dr. phil. Henrie Dennis is a Nigerian born curator, philosopher, cultural mediator, community organiser, and human rights activist based in Vienna. She serves as Curator of Africa and the African Diaspora Collection at Weltmuseum Wien and Founder and Executive Director of Afro Rainbow Austria.
Working across culture, research, civil society, and public engagement, she develops exhibitions, undertakes collection research, teaches, leads public programmes, and advances community advocacy. Her practice connects institutional expertise with community knowledge and fosters dialogue across cultural and social contexts.
Her research addresses colonial memory, migration, gender, queer and diasporic life. Central to her work is the question of how cultural institutions can move beyond representation toward meaningful participation, shared authority, and accountable public life.
Languages
Igbo · Yoruba · Pidgin · English · German
Previous and ongoing engagements
Afro Rainbow Austria · WIENWOCHE · Planet10 · ILGA World · LEFÖ IBF · Selbstlaut · Austrian Red Cross
Recognition
2025Wiener Heldin
2023Würdigungspreis of the Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research
2022Shortlisted for Austria’s Personality of the Year Award
2019 to 2020Multiple Austrian and international honours for the bilingual children’s book Ein bisschen wie du / A Little Like You
2018Black Austrian Award for Community Empowerment
Collaborate
I welcome thoughtful art projects, social change initiatives, community partnerships, research, teaching, lectures, panels and press enquiries.
© 2026 Dr. Henrie Dennis One leg in Naija. One leg in Austria. A practice grounded in the diaspora.