For over two decades, ‘Jimi Gureje has been one of the most unique and visionary designers and entrepreneurs in Brooklyn, NY. This ingenuity spawned the brick and mortar boutique that carries his name in the Prospect Heights neigborhood.

Cohabiting in the same space is the Art Cafe + Bar and Renate Albertsen-Marton (RAM) Gallery which comprises his unified vision - The Village @ Gureje - a one of a kind, community-based art and culture hub with the collective objective being “enlightenment of purpose”.

Gureje was born in the town of Ilesa, Nigeria where he was a self-describe farm boy. “There was nothing there unless you grew it, unless you made,’ he says describing the town. As a teenager he moved to Lagos to apprentice with the established designer Jimi King and eventually opened his own store front.

Soon after, he met his late mentor Renate Albertsen-Marton (whose name is carried by Gureje’s RAM Gallery) the director of Goethe-Institut Nigeria - the German Cultural Centre in Lagos - who eventually brought him to Hamburg, Germany where he was able to participate in international art shows and events like the Symposium for Ethnological Studies.

Gureje ultimately moved to his current home of Brooklyn, NY to set up shop and put down roots after a stint as an account executive at Verizon.

Since 2001, Gureje has curated and organized art exhibitions for the RAM Gallery, produced events for The Village - notably The Festival of Colors (2010-2012), as well as styled members of the local and global community, artists, musicians, and actors - some of whom have donned Gureje threads in high profile performances, magazine spreads, on national television, and at various industry events.

in 2013, Gureje and wife Brianna establish Art Cafe + Bar to serve the food and beverage needs for The Village, its events, and other happenings. Art Cafe + Bar recently expanded to include a food truck located outside in the patio space and serving some of Gureje’s Culinary specialties. Aditionally, Gureje’s work has been featured in “Display of Excellence” - Lagos, Nigeria: the Artist Merchant Market through the U.S. Embassy - Lagos, Nigeria; Brooklyn Museum through Celebrate Brooklyn; and Brooklyn Children’s Museum. He has also facilitated classes and workshops at the Esalen Institute Art Festival.

When asked about the future of his work, Gureje responded, “to translate the meaning of an ideal life in the form of style. Within that style, there is a whole language that includes clothing, food - a body of work that fulfills the circle of life. That’s it!.”