by Michael Turnbull

Everlyn Nicodemus

Modern One at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. 73 & 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR

On now until Sun 25 May 2025. Open daily, 10am–5pm. Admission free. Free audio tour.

The Drawing Room/Everlyn Nicodemus. Wed 12 March 2025 5.30 – 6.45. Free. Booking essential.

Everlyn Nicodemus was born in 1954 at Marangu – at that time a village in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, East Africa. Up to the age of eight, Everlyn lived with her grandmother in her thatched house, attending school and church built by German missionaries and became involved with the Roman Catholic church for a time.

In 1973 she left Tanzania for Stockholm, Sweden where she studied Social Anthropology and Occupational Safety and Health Studies for four years at Stockholm University. In 1979, as a Swedish national, she returned to Tanzania with her daughter, where she taught Swahili to other international expatriates, while completing her university studies by extension.

She had begun to paint seriously in 1980 and after six months held her first exhibition at the National Museum in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The following year she returned to Sweden with her family, setting up her studio in a spare bedroom in a suburb of Stockholm and held three solo exhibitions in Stockholm. While installing her exhibition at the Swedish Broadcasting Centre, she met the art critic Kristian Romare (1926-2015), whom she married shortly after, leading to a lifelong partnership and collaboration in art history, research and writing.

Dr Michael T R B Turnbull is an author and historian.