Lagos Art Week confronts history, identity and belonging

Lagos, Nigeria – A woman in an elegant red dress walks down a hallway, turning to take in her surroundings. A large painting catches her eye, and she steps into the booth for a closer look.

Around her, visitors move between 15 partitioned exhibition spaces, pausing to study the artworks. Thousands have gathered to admire, connect with and collect works from across the world.

It is the third day of ART X Lagos, West Africa’s premier and largest art fair, held from November 5–8 as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s annual art week. This year’s programme features exhibitions, installations, music, discussions and film screenings at the Federal Palace Hotel on Victoria Island. Galleries and museums across Lagos are also hosting exhibitions.

Together, the exhibitions explore cultural erosion, migration and belonging, examining how art can preserve collective memory and reconnect people with their heritage. They also reveal a cultural side of Lagos that extends beyond its reputation for commerce, traffic and relentless hustle.

Ndidi Dike, a contemporary sculptor and multidisciplinary artist, is among those exhibiting. Her installation, Residues of Past Encounters II, features a wooden canoe suspended above a glass surface, with sand arranged around its edges. Above it hangs fabric in the Adire style, associated with Yoruba women of southwest Nigeria, bearing silhouettes of tightly packed people.

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