ART X Lagos Concludes 11th Edition, Ushering in “A New Chapter, A New Decade”

In the grand ballroom of the Federal Palace in Lagos, the eleventh edition of ART X Lagos closed on 8 November after four days. Under the theme “A New Chapter, A New Decade,” West Africa’s leading international art fair looked back to the pioneering Nigerian artists, architects, educators and thinkers who shaped the country’s modernism, and asked what their influence means for African creativity now.

The mood was set early. Before the Collectors’ Preview on 5 November, founder and director Tokini Peterside-Schwebig led private tours for members of the Tate International Council and for a Creative Africa Nexus delegation headed by Afreximbank and Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, alongside Rwanda’s Minister of State for Youth and Arts, Sandrine Umutoni. The official opening the next day drew Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, state commissioners and leaders from banking and business. Peterside-Schwebig presented the governor with a certificate of appreciation for his long support of the fair.

Her remarks were reflective rather than celebratory. “As ART X Lagos enters this new chapter, I am thinking more about the depth and sustainability of the impact we can create.”  A decade on, she argued, the fair has proved that an institution conceived and built in Africa can become an internationally recognised platform and contribute to the creative economy. The next phase, she said, is about building on that foundation with greater ambition, as a cultural institution “grounded in excellence, deeply original in its thinking and expression, and unapologetically true to who we are.” The evening ended at VICI with an after-party and an interactive live set from singer-songwriter Falana.

On the fair floor, fifteen galleries across the Main and Spotlight sections presented established and emerging voices from Africa and its diaspora. The Main section included Affinity Art Gallery, Afriart Gallery, Alexis Galleries, AMG Projects, Gallery 1957, kó, Kokopelli Gallery, Nike Art Gallery, O’DA Art, SMO Contemporary Art, TAFETA and Yenwa, while Adegbola Gallery, Nomadic Art Gallery and Windsor Gallery made up the Spotlight section.

The edition’s emotional centre was ART X ICON, devoted this year to the potter Ladi Dosei Kwali. Curated by Dr Jareh Das and sponsored by Zenith Bank, Ladi Kwali: Beyond the Vessel placed Kwali among the women potters and traditions that shaped her, bringing together ceramics, archival material and work from several generations. It invited visitors to know her beyond the face on the twenty-naira note. A companion masterclass, also supported by Zenith Bank, gave ten emerging artists a chance to learn from established practitioners, linking Kwali’s legacy to the next generation. In a related talk, Das screened a documentary on Kwali’s life and discussed her enduring influence with ceramic artist Isis Dove-Edwin.

Elsewhere, the fair turned to collaboration and memory. Walkers with the Dawn, sponsored by Afreximbank, united Victor Ehikhamenor of Nigeria, Kiluanji Kia Henda of Angola, Georgina Maxim of Zimbabwe, Kaloki Nyamai of Kenya and Ghizlane Sahli of Morocco, artists whose work extends beyond the studio into education and community-building. Nearby, Ndidi Dike’s Residues of Past Encounters II, curated by N’Goné Fall and sponsored by Chapel Hill Denham, centred on a weathered canoe that evoked Badagry’s Point of No Return and confronted the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Dike later spoke with Fall and collector Femi Lijadu about her career and the histories that inform her work.

The programme moved easily between disciplines. The ART X Library, curated by Missla Libsekal with books on loan from the G.A.S Foundation, offered a quiet space for research and reading. At Speakers’ Corner, Yinka Bernie’s Moving Parts, inspired by Lagos’s pedestrian bridges, invited visitors to pick a question card and record their answers, adding their own voices to the work. ART X Cinema marked a century of Nigerian cinema with a lecture-performance by historian Ed Keazor, and screened Joel Kachi Benson’s Mothers of Chibok, followed by a conversation moderated by Falana on how film can change the way tragedy and resilience are remembered.

The music, curated by Lanre Masha, belonged to a new generation. ART X Live! featured taves, Kunmie, Solana, EKENE, LULU, Lodù, Nora and WEAREALLCHEMICALS, with a special appearance by Ladipoe, spanning African-inflected pop, soulful fusions and fresh takes on Afrobeats.

A recurring idea ran through the talks: African artists as builders. The Development Forum, Laying Ground, Lifting Horizons, paired four Art Across Borders artists who have founded initiatives of their own with the people behind independent Lagos spaces. Nyamai of Kamene, Maxim of Village Unhu, Sahli of Initiatives with Female Moroccan Artisans and Kia Henda of KinoYetu joined Tushar Hathiramani of 16/16, Moni Aisida of GAS Foundation, Wura Natasha Ogunji of Treehouse and Faridah Folawiyo of FF Projects. Moderated by Fikayo Adebajo and Nelson C.J, the conversation, spanning Nairobi, Harare, Marrakech, Luanda and Lagos, made the case for sustainable creative ecosystems.

Education stayed central. Sponsored by ZTL Liquids Transfer Limited and run with Teach for Nigeria, the Schools’ Programme introduced more than 750 young Nigerians to art through clay, storytelling and play inspired by Kwali. Facilitator Tolulope Ami-Williams recognised three students for their imagination: Shakirat Ayomide Tijani, Raphael Ozogwue and Victory Ocheleka. The Kids’ Corner gave families a space to make art together.

Since 2016, ART X Lagos has welcomed more than 700,000 visitors. This year’s edition was sponsored by Zenith Bank, Afreximbank, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Chapel Hill Denham, Champion Brands, AnapJets, ZTL Liquids Transfer, MTN Nigeria and Patrón.