ART X Lagos Concludes its Tenth Edition, Cementing a Decade of Cultural Impact

L–R: Director, Afreximbank, Mr. Stephen Kauma; Chairman, Anap Jets FZE, Mr. Atedo Peterside CON; Executive Director, Zenith Bank PLC, Dr. Adobi Nwapa; Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Founder & Chairman, ART X Lagos, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig; Coordinating Minister for the Economy & Finance Minister, Mr. Wale Edun; Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr. Marc Fonbaustier; CEO, Chapel Hill Denham, Mr. Bolaji Balogun; and CEO, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Mr. Olumide Oyetan, at the Opening Ceremony of the 10th Anniversary  of ART X Lagos at The Federal Palace, Lagos, over the weekend. 

ART X Lagos successfully concluded its milestone tenth edition — 10X — which took place from 6–9 November 2025 at the Federal Palace in Lagos. The 10X edition celebrated a decade of amplifying African and diasporic voices within the global cultural landscape.

The fair commenced on Thursday, 6 November with an exclusive Collectors’ Preview, offering leading collectors and patrons a first look at this year’s gallery presentations and Special Projects. The following day, Friday, 7 November, ART X Lagos hosted its Official Opening Ceremony at Federal Palace, Lagos and the Official After Party at ALARA curated by Native Sound System, which brought together artists, cultural stakeholders, and supporters to celebrate a decade of ART X Lagos.

Among the dignitaries in attendance at the Opening Ceremony were: Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Coordinating Minister for the Economy & Finance Minister, Mr. Wale Edun; Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hon. Hannatu Musa Musawa; Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr. Marc Fonbaustier; alongside members of the ART X Lagos Advisory Board — Femi Lijadu,  N’Goné Fall, Papa Omotayo, Reni Folawiyo and Labi Ogunbiyi— together with leading private sector partners and sponsors including Chairman, Anap Jets FZE, Mr. Atedo Peterside CON; Chairman & Founder, Zenith Bank PLC, Dr. Jim Ovia CFR; Director, Afreximbank, Mr. Stephen Kauma; Executive Director, Zenith Bank PLC, Dr. Adobi Nwapa; CEO, Chapel Hill Denham, Mr. Bolaji Balogun; CEO, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Mr. Olumide Oyetan; amongst others.

The 10X edition drew record attendance from local and international audiences, affirming ART X Lagos’ role as a global destination for African art and a defining force in the continent’s creative economy.

Under the visionary leadership of Founder and Chairman, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, ART X Lagos 2025 unfolded across four dynamic locations within the Federal Palace grounds — the Balmoral Marquee, the Federal Palace Ballroom Marquee, the expansive Federal Palace Lobby and into the Waterfront Garden — an ambitious format introduced specially for the 10th anniversary edition.

To extend the experience beyond the fair dates, the installation in the Federal Palace Lobby dedicated to this year’s ART X ICON, J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, will remain open to the public until 31 December 2025, inviting audiences to return and experience the work in their own time.

Held under the theme “Imagining Otherwise, No Matter The Tide,” the 10X edition invited audiences to explore the possibilities of imagination and agency in shaping Africa’s shared future. Through its expansive programming, the fair reflected on a decade of cultural growth while charting a new course for the years ahead.

Speaking at the Official Opening Ceremony, Founder & Chairman ART X Lagos, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, shared:

“At ten, ART X Lagos stands both rooted and reaching — much like the mangrove that inspired this year’s journey. Our growth has been shaped by the communities that support us, the audiences that believe in us, and the artists whose visions lead us forward. Our next chapter is about building boldly, with ambition and purpose. Our mission remains the same: to harness the power of culture to unlock the potential of Nigeria and Africa. By deepening our investment in artists, curators, and cultural thinkers, we will continue to expand what is possible here. The past decade has shown that when vision meets commitment, creativity becomes a force that inspires societies and reshapes how the world sees us. The best is yet to come.”

Key Highlights of the Fair

ART X Lagos 2025 featured 15 curated galleries, presenting a diverse range of emerging and established artists from Africa and its diaspora. 

Main Section Galleries included: Affinity Art Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria); Afriart Gallery (Kampala, Uganda); Alexis Galleries (Lagos, Nigeria); Galerie MAM (Douala, Cameroon); Gallery 1957 (Accra, Ghana); kó (Lagos, Nigeria); Nike Art Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria); O’DA Art (Lagos, Nigeria); SMO Contemporary (Lagos, Nigeria); Tiwani Contemporary (London, UK); Wunika Mukan Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria); and Yenwa (Lagos, Nigeria).

Spotlight Galleries: Launched this year, the Spotlight Galleries section featured a new generation of emerging galleries —  ADEGBOLA (Lagos, Nigeria), AMG Projects (Lagos, Nigeria), and Nomadic Art Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria) — who presented focused solo exhibitions by emerging artists from the continent.

These Special Projects, curated by Curator-at-Large Missla Libsekal, were among the defining highlights of ART X Lagos 2025.

Nengi Omuku’s ‘External Realities, Internal Geographies’ exhibition sponsored by Chapel Hill Denham, and presented in support of her foundation TAOH Africa — with proceeds from sales benefiting its work — transformed sanyan cloth into immersive landscapes of memory and restoration. Accompanying the exhibition, Omuku held an intimate workshop which invited participants to create, and reconnect through art.

While Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS HOPE: B’á ò kú, ìṣe ò tán, sponsored by emPLE, invited audiences to engage with art as a participatory tool for reimagining the urban environment.

The inaugural ART X ICON exhibition, ‘An Exacting Eye’, sponsored by Zenith Bank, presented six decades of J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere’s photographic mastery, marking a long-awaited homecoming for his legacy. To honour the significance of his contribution to Nigeria’s cultural history, the exhibition unfolded across three locations within the fair — an expansion introduced especially for this tenth anniversary edition.

As a special extension of the ART X ICON exhibition, photographer, archivist, and son of J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere, Amaize Ojeikere, led The Masterclass, sponsored by Zenith Bank — a guided workshop with ten emerging photographers whose practices engage with memory, typology, and culture. Three participants will receive grants and later present their work publicly, with further details to be announced in the coming weeks.

Reflecting on the Masterclass experience, Michael Ayobamidele Falodun shared:

“The Masterclass was an awakening. A space where creativity met clarity, where stories found structure, and where passion was challenged to grow deeper roots. To the ART X ICON team, thank you for curating such a soul-lifting, eye-opening, and thought-provoking experience. Every moment spoke intention, and every detail reflected excellence. And to my fellow participants, meeting you all was a gift. The conversations, perspectives, and shared hunger for growth reminded me that art truly thrives in community.” 

To accompany the exhibition, Portraits of Modernity — a live photography studio curated by Fikayo Adebajo — invited fairgoers to co-create contemporary cultural artefacts in dialogue with Ojeikere’s legacy. Inspired by his iconic portraits, the studio welcomed new audiences into the frame, with photographs captured by Peter John Chukwu, and with the Patewo chair, designed & crafted by Saliu Iwadi Studios, serving as the central seat for each portrait. J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere’s granddaughter, Efe Ojeikere, participated in the studio’s work, continuing her grandfather’s legacy.

Sculptural installations brought new spatial encounters to the fair grounds. MASS (Devotion) by Dennis Osadebe, installed in the Waterfront Garden, explored collective spirituality through a circular fiberglass form recalling the prayer circle and communal gathering. At the Ballroom Marquee entrance, Sokari Douglas Camp CBE’s Asoebi rendered the ceremonial “family cloth” in steel, giving material weight and permanence to a shared cultural symbol.

Sponsored by Stanbic IBTC Pensions, and presented as part of this year’s Special Projects, The Library, curated by Missla Libsekal, featured works by Bruce Onobrakpeya, loans from the G.A.S. Foundation Art Library, curators’ research publications, and select ART X Cinema programming. A special highlight was Tales by Moonlight, a multi-generational storytelling experience hosted by Oluwalanu Agusto and Bruce Onobrakpeya, which invited young audiences to sit at the feet of an elder and learn — passing history, memory, and cultural wisdom from one generation to the next.

Presented within this year’s Special Projects, Speakers’ Corner was centered around a mangrove installation by the social enterprise Mitimeth, inviting guests into an evolving dialogue about who we are and the world we want to shape together. Curated by Fikayo Adebajo, the space was activated by A Third Space, and throughout the fair hosted readings and conversations featuring Multidisciplinary Artist Fiyin Koko; Writer and Journalist Molara Wood; Commonwealth Short Story Prize Africa Winner Innocent Chizaram; Writer and Editor Fuad Lawal; Author and Former VICE UK Editor Dipo Faloyin; and Multidisciplinary Artist Bubu Ogisi.

The mangrove tree featured in Speakers’ Corner has been donated by ART X Lagos to the Lagos State Government, where it will take up a permanent home at Lagos House within the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History. The donation was announced during the opening ceremony and was warmly received by the Governor.

Curated by Tega Okiti, ART X Cinema presented a line-up of shorts, features, and documentaries exploring African and diasporic experiences. Highlights included My Father’s Shadow (2025), the Cannes-selected debut feature by Akinola Davies, alongside Mati Diop’s acclaimed award-winning film Dahomey (2024).

Sponsored by EnjoyCorp and adidas, and curated by Lanre Masha, ART X Live! celebrated resilience and interconnection under the mangrove-inspired thread “From the Roots”. The night marked another homecoming, with Nigerian “Highlife Fusion” band The Cavemen returning as headliners, having once served as the house band for the platform. They were joined by LLona, Braye, and Ameaya, with the energy carrying well into the early hours.

ART X Talks returned with a compelling series of conversations. The 2025 lineup included Akinbode Akinbiyi, Amaize Ojeikere, Mati Diop, and the Art Across Borders artists, alongside The Rebels and the Movement — a special conversation with Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jimoh Buraimoh and Nike Davies-Okundaye, presented in partnership with kó. The dialogue revisited two pivotal movements that shaped Nigerian modern art: the Zaria Art Society and the Osogbo School.

Sponsored by Afreximbank, and curated by Jumoke Sanwo, the fifth edition of  Art Across Borders convened six acclaimed mid-career artists – Edson Chagas, Mário Macilau, Nicène Kossentini, Fatoumata Diabaté, Kudzanai Chiurai, and Camille Chedda – exploring decoloniality, belonging, and shared futures through innovative artistic projects.

As part of the tenth anniversary, ART X Lagos also reaffirmed its commitment to nurturing talent through Resonance — its annual residency in Paris developed in partnership with the Embassy of France in Nigeria and Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris.  The inaugural fellows — Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, Olorunfemi Adewuyi, and Tony Agbapuonwu — were presented during the fair, with the first residency now underway and the remaining fellows set to begin their time in Paris in the months ahead.

Educational initiatives, including the Schools’ Programme and The Development Forum, continued to nurture young African talent, reinforcing ART X Lagos as a vital platform for creativity and inclusive cultural dialogue.

This year, ART X Lagos expanded its commitment to community with dynamic, intergenerational programming that welcomed children and families into the heart of the fair. The Schools’ Programme, sponsored by ZTL Liquids Transfer, and in partnership with Teach for Nigeria, hosted over 750 children, who engaged with works across the fair through guided tours and hands-on activities. The “Imagining Otherwise” exhibition and educational programme, steered by Tolulope Ami-Williams, showcased winning works by Gafar Olayinka of Mobolaji Bank Anthony School, Yaba; Udoh Joseph of Onitolo Community Junior High School; and Chibuzor Alabulge of Jibowu Junior High School, each reimagining Lagos through creativity and resilience. Meanwhile, The Tide Wall invited all children to create prints inspired by the textures of the city, forming a collective mural of shared imagination. Together with interactive Kids’ Tours, these initiatives nurtured curiosity, participation, and a lasting connection to art.

ART X Lagos 2025 is proudly sponsored by Zenith Bank, Afreximbank, Chapel Hill Denham, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, emPLE, AnapJets, EnjoyCorp, adidas, ZTL Liquids Transfer, Air France and Patrón.