Bisila Noha: ‘Ile Ọkàn (House of the Soul) is a solo exhibition by Bisila Noha, a Spanish-Equatoguinean London-based ceramic artist, researcher and writer. Expanding on Bisila’s first Ile ọkàn (House of the Soul), originally built in Ikise, Nigeria, during a residency in 2025, the exhibition reflects on a four-year journey of material and spiritual exploration.
‘Ile ọkàn' brings together sculpture, vessels, stools, photography and sound to create a space that is part shrine, part altar, part sacred room, all shaped by ritual, memory, and a desire for connection. An homage to Yoruba culture, to Bisila’s own spirituality and to women makers, the collection also pays tribute to the materials themselves - clay, plaster, bronze and wax - as the companions and teachers that they have become.
Visitors will be accompanied around the space by a soundscape by multidisciplinary artist and curator Maxine Pennington and this journey added to further by a small library curated by the Seed Archive - whose books allow you to dive even deeper and connect the works with some of the cultures Bisila has drawn inspiration from.
Surrounded by the gardens at OmVed, Ile Ọkàn seeks to create the artist’s own little universe. A space not to rush through, but to sit with, together.
About the artist
Bisila Noha is a Spanish-Equatoguinean, London-based ceramic artist, researcher, and writer. Her practice challenges Western distinctions between art and craft, questioning ideas of productivity and value while reflecting on home, oneness, and belonging through lived experiences across pottery communities.
Working with clay, vessels, and sculptural forms, Noha connects material histories to personal and ancestral narratives. A storyteller at heart, she centres the often overlooked contributions of women of colour, using both making and writing as a bridge between forgotten pasts and the present.
Her work can be found in many public and private collections including the V&A who will be exhibiting the two ‘Reunion Vessels’ in their collection as part of the opening of the brand new V&A East Museum in April 2026.
Alongside her artistic practice, Noha is a feminist activist and community organiser, with a background in Translation and International Relations.
About the organiser
Bisila Noha: ‘Ile Ọkàn (House of the Soul) is an exhibition presented by Thrown, an online and pop-up gallery with a specialism in contemporary ceramics. Thrown showcases exceptional art and design in all of its forms, aiming to draw links and question boundaries between process, form and function. Through a programme of exhibitions, they represent internationally acclaimed names alongside emerging talent, providing a much-needed platform for makers finding their identity as artists.
Originally launched in a gallery space in Highgate, North London, in 2021 the gallery moved out of this fixed physical space to focus on online & pop-up exhibitions
The gallery was set up by gallery director Claire Pearce who has been working in galleries since graduating from a degree in Architecture in 2010. Five years spent in St Ives, Cornwall, first introduced her to ceramics as an art form, which has been a passion ever since.
