Lagos-based African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), a non-profit organization and art space, unveils its rich programming for 2023. For over a decade, AAF has been empowering the African creative community, and its emerging and established artists through various programs in a dynamic and interactive space that sparks meaningful dialogue and encourages critical thinking.
AAF celebrates the 2023 season with a physical expansion to its new headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos, marking a novel era for the organization towards the growth and strengthening of its initiatives empowering creative expression in Africa. AAF’s new location boasts two buildings, each intended to serve as its main base for a variety of upcoming new exhibitions, activities and residencies, strengthening its presence within the community. Following this growing enthusiasm and commitment to community values and experimental artistic principles, AAF announces a broad program of residencies, workshops, group and solo exhibitions, curatorial development, and educational programs in 2023 in Africa and beyond.
AAF continues to emphasize the importance of cultivating genuine partnerships and providing hands-on curatorial training through collaborative programs. These commitments showcase the organization’s dedication to nurturing the next generation of thinkers, curators, and artists, aligning with the foundation’s mission to foster and support the growth of creative professionals in the art world. By actively engaging with artists and other stakeholders, AAF strives to create a vibrant, interconnected community that empowers the next generation of creative professionals to thrive and make a lasting impact on the global arts landscape.
Azu Nwagbogu, Director and Founder of AAF, curator of the first-ever Benin Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 2024 and National Geographic Society’s Explorer at Large, strengthens AAF’s positioning as the leading voice and changemaker through the power of art in Africa and its diasporas, followed by his leading interest in evolving and recontextualizing new models of creative engagement.
ANNUAL EXHIBITION | ‘Dig Where You Stand’
Date to be confirmed | Palais de Lomé, Togo
African Artists’ Foundation presents its ongoing project, “Written by us, Not about us: Reclaiming Art Histories & Developing Critical Discourse in Northern Ireland and Nigeria,” a writer’s exchange program in collaboration with the Northern Irish Art Network (NIAN) and funded by the British Council. This initiative aims to address the lack of critical discourse surrounding the arts, especially the visual arts, in Northern Ireland and Nigeria by bringing together writers, journalists, and curators from each country to engage in a collaborative program of mentoring, commissioning, and advocacy work. As part of the project, mentees will contribute a final written piece, which will be included in a publication to be launched at the Ulster Museum and African Artists’ Foundation in May/June 2023. Building on the collaboration with NIAN, the African Artists’ Foundation is also introducing a writers’ residency program. Shortlisted writers will participate in a two-week in-person residency in April 2023 at the Alliance Française de Lagos, an important partner of the African Artists’ Foundation. The residency will conclude with a public event in Lagos, where the written work will be showcased and discussed.
ANNUAL EXHIBITION | ‘Dig Where You Stand’
Date to be confirmed | AAF Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria
The third iteration of the traveling exhibition will take place at AAF headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria.
NIAN/AAF COLLABORATIVE EXCHANGE PROGRAM | ‘Written by us, Not about us: Reclaiming Art Histories & Developing Critical Discourse in Northern Ireland and Nigeria’
August 2022 – June 2023 | Virtual Writer’s Exchange Program
African Artists’ Foundation presents its ongoing project, “Written by us, Not about us: Reclaiming Art Histories & Developing Critical Discourse in Northern Ireland and Nigeria,” a writer’s exchange program in collaboration with the Northern Irish Art Network (NIAN). This initiative aims to address the lack of critical discourse surrounding the arts, especially the visual arts, in Northern Ireland and Nigeria by bringing together writers, journalists, and curators from each country to engage in a collaborative program of mentoring, commissioning, and advocacy work. As part of the project, mentees will contribute a final written piece, which will be included in a publication to be launched at the Ulster Museum and African Artists’ Foundation in May/June 2023. Building on the collaboration with NIAN, the African Artists’ Foundation is also introducing a writers’ residency program. Shortlisted writers will participate in a two-week in-person residency in April 2023 at the Alliance Française de Lagos, an important partner of the African Artists’ Foundation. The residency will conclude with a public event in Lagos, where the written work will be showcased and discussed.
AG18/AAF COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITION | ‘On the Fringe’
April 18 – June 3, 2023 | AG18 Gallery, Vienna, Austria
AAF in collaboration with AG18 Gallery, Vienna, unveils the exhibition ‘On the Fringe,’ which offers an avenue for reassessing the significance of the world that does not always meet the eye, positioning it as the starting point of our existential musings. In On the Fringe, the fortress of the human mind, once a zone of privacy and exclusion, with its unsearchable musings and proclivities, comes out of incognito and we are all invited, with convivial Yoruba greetings of ẹ kaabọ, to examine and confront the multiplicity and interactions of culture, choice, and identity—as we find them conspicuously displayed in not only the works of these ten artists but even more, in our empirical world. The audience will find that it is a dedication to life—with its vibrance and vitality, manifold forms, and complexities—that drives these contemporary African artists to create, share, and live through the canvas, in today’s world. Participating artists are Ayogu Kingsley, Boris Anje, Chinaza Nkemka, Damilola Opedun, David Olatoye, Emma Odumade, Johnson Ocheja, Michelle Okpare, Talut Kareem and Wasiu Eshinlokun.
LAGOSPHOTO FESTIVAL 2023 | ‘Ground State – fellowship within the uncanny’
October 27/28 – December 2023 | AAF Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria + satellite venues
Launched in 2010, LagosPhoto is the first and only international arts festival of photography in Nigeria. During its month-long presentation, various events include exhibitions, workshops, artist presentations, discussions, screenings, and large-scale outdoor prints displayed throughout the city, to reclaim public spaces and showcase to the general public the multifaceted stories of Africa. LagosPhoto presents a contemporary and historical visual essay of the continent, to both a local and global audience. The festival fosters a community for contemporary photography, uniting local and international artists through photographs that encapsulate individual experiences and identities from across all of Africa. LagosPhoto presents and educates about photography through its connection with education, photojournalism, exploring historical and contemporary social issues, sharing cultural practices, and promoting social programs.
The 2023 iteration of the festival will be hosted in Lagos, Nigeria and Benin with a particular focus on restitution and cultural heritage. Building on the success of its previous editions, the festival travels to Benin for the first time, activating and invigorating its local art scene and vibrant cultural heritage with a week of talks, workshops and seminars around contemporary image-making, promoting meaningful conversations around restitution and its connection to contemporary photography. Lagos Photo Festival will showcase projects that explore the present moment and envision how repair, syncopation, putrefaction, restitution, and restoration will take place; challenging our own complicity in a culture of desire, founded on consumption and how to foster a fellowship of dynamic spiritual change, a rebirthing of the unimaginable. An open call for the LagosPhoto Festival 2023 invites emerging and established artists working with lens-based media to submit works that fit the theme, GROUND STATE – fellowship within the uncanny. The submission period takes place from April to June 2023.
FEMALE ARTIST DEVELOPMENT:
WOMEN’S SHOW IN COLLABORATION WITH AG18 GALLERY
Date and Location to be confirmed
AAF will continue its partnership with the AG18 Gallery located in Vienna, Austria with a second group exhibition focused solely on female artists.
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (AIR) PROGRAM | Johnson Ocheja Artist Residency
April 1 – 18, 2023 | AAF Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria
In preparation for his solo exhibition at AAF, artist Johnson Ocheja will be part of the annual Artist-In-Residence program for two weeks. The program provides artists with a rich and diverse experience of Lagos, offering accommodation, studio space, and the materials necessary to create works of art for the designated period of their residency. The visiting artist has the opportunity to be involved in gallery activities and thus engage with other local and international artists. Following the completion of the residency, the exhibition of works produced will be held with specific support of the foundation. A catalog about the project will be published at the end of all residencies, encompassing the artists journeys and their mark on the community.
SOLO EXHIBITION | Johnson Ocheja | ‘A Pilgrim’s Journey; Through the Shades of Yellow’
April 22 – May 20, 2023 | Alliance Française de Lagos, Nigeria
Following his participation in the ‘Artists in Residence Program’ at AAF’s headquarters, Nigerian artist Johnson Ocheja unveils his first solo exhibition ‘A Pilgrim’s Journey; Through the Shades of Yellow,’ at the Alliance Française de Lagos, Nigeria. His works are deeply influenced by the notion of race, portraying and highlighting black consciousness and black beauty through a vibrant and colorful style. Frequently creating detailed scenes of black subjects with blue pigment skin symbolizing royalty, Ocheja uses the impasto technique with his fingers producing marks on the skin of his subjects inspired by scarification, an African cultural practice. Ocheja uses art as a storytelling tool to expose different beautiful stories, cultures, and political, religious, ethnic identity, and racial issues affecting his diverse community.
AAF GROUP EXHIBITION
September 2 – October 7, 2023 | AAF Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria
AAF will unveil a group exhibition featuring local and international artists within its gallery space during the summer months. Prior to the exhibition, AAF will host a one-week Artists Retreat for all participating artists to Lagos, encouraging a deepened sense of community and creative cooperation though various activities such as team bonding, workshops, and panel discussions.
TALK YOUR OWN (OPEN MIC)
Date to be confirmed | AAF Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria
The monthly open mic session ‘Talk Your Own’ invites writers, poets, musicians and amateurs to perform and interact with the audience, encouraging freedom of expression. With poetry slam sessions, AAF honors and gives exposure to other art forms and provides a stage for a contemporary interpretation of the West African spoken word heritage.
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT THROUGH CONTEMPORARY ART (YECA)
Date to be confirmed | Lagos, Nigeria
‘The Youth Empowerment through Contemporary Art’ (YECA) is an outreach program, targeting the student population of selected public secondary schools in Lagos through art courses, mentorship, and exhibition opportunities. The aim of YECA is to provide vocational training, the acquisition of livelihood skills, a solid extracurricular outlet for youths in secondary schools and to position art as a viable career path. YECA empowers the youth with an outlet for creative expression through exhibition of their works in public spaces such as galleries and festivals, and to promote the use of contemporary art to highlight the experiences of the youth in Nigerian society. With past support from organizations such as the Ford Foundation, AAF has collaborated with several schools within Lagos, offering their students art classes and revising the visual art curriculum.
SOLO EXHIBITION | AYOGU KINGSLEY SOLO EXHIBITION
Date to be confirmed | AAF Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria
Nigerian artist Ayogu Kingsley, known for his hyperrealist style, will present a solo exhibition showcasing his work rooted in the expression of daily experiences and nature as a poetic countenance to the human conscience.
THE MAKER LAB EXHIBITION
Date to be confirmed | Lagos, Nigeria
The Maker Lab is a platform for emerging artists (aged 18-35) showcasing their dynamic art. Select artists working with a variety of mediums will get a chance to present their portfolios in an interactive review session. Artists will be selected to showcase their works in an exhibition at the organization’s experimental loft space, The Maker Lab.
