When Art X Lagos was founded in 2016, the intention was that the fair would serve as a platform to project visual art from Nigeria, Africa, and its diaspora, with the gallery sections being its focus. However, some four years ago, its “perspective started to expand,” as stated by the fair’s founder, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, during a press preview for its ninth edition last week at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos. Later that same day, the fair opened to collectors, who enthusiastically engaged with the work on view in the booths of ten galleries based on the continent and in the diaspora, including Gallery 1957 (Ghana), Kanbi Projects (U.K.), Afriart Gallery (Uganda) and Nike Art Gallery (Nigeria), which presented work by thirty artists contributing to the evolution of contemporary art.
The centerpiece of this year’s edition—the biggest yet for the November art fair—was the non-commercial programming, which featured several notable projects, including “Restless Cities: From Lagos to the World,” the first photography and screening exhibition of Lagos-born, New York-based photographer and filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu, curated by Papa Omotayo, Tega Okiti, Haily Grenet and Fikayo Adebajo. Billed as a “homecoming” show for the artist, it featured about a dozen images never before shown in Africa and four productions directed by Dosunmu, including 2013’s “Mother of George,” exploring experiences of Africans on the continent and in the diaspora.
Other highlights included “Speakers’ Corner: The Crossroads,” a new project conceived by Papa Omotayo, which invited guests at the fair to respond to questions—What keeps you moving? What keeps you growing?—that spoke to the fair’s theme of Promised Lands: “places, real and imagined, that offer hope and a vision of greater freedoms.”
Overlooked and unsung Nigerians who generally haven’t received recognition earned their due in the project titled “Mark-Makers: Unsung Pioneers.” Curated by Missla Libsekal with historical consultancy by Ed Keazor, it highlighted the work of figures like Jonathan Adagogo Green, Nigeria’s first professional photographer, World War I resistance fighter August Agboola Browne and the Fula princess, poet and teacher Nana Asma’u, an early advocate for women’s independence and education under Islam.
The curated ART X Library returned with about 200 hand-selected books, documentaries and magazines chosen from the G.A.S. Foundation’s extensive book collection. Titles included Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks, El Anatsui: The Reinvention of Sculpture by Chika Okeke-Agulu and the late Okwui Enwezor and a rare collection of Black Orpheus, the first African literary periodical.
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A cultural exchange program, “Art Across Borders,” highlighted artists from Africa and its diaspora, including Aurélie Djiena from Cameroon, Odur Ronald of Uganda and Mohammed Monaiseer of Egypt, to explore ancestral connections. The artists in this show addressed “the notion of border control. I think that’s one of the challenges most continental Africans have,” curator Jumoke Sanwo told Observer. An imaginary border control was created, starting with emergency blankets, often the first objects handed to migrants when they cross the Mediterranean Sea, taking on the status of refugees.
Beyond the booths, ART X Live!, curated by Lanre Masha, highlighted the fusion of traditional Nigerian music and contemporary sounds that bridge tradition with modern cultural heritage through performances by artists including Adewale Ayuba and Cruel Santini, also known as Santi. Concurrently, ART X Cinema showcased a selection of thirteen films by African and diaspora filmmakers, curated by Tega Okiti.
“We were really thinking about what would be useful for the community here in light of the conditions, in light of the challenges, what can give people a sense of hope, a sense of direction,” curator-at-large Libsekal told Observer about the thinking behind expanding the programming of this year’s ART X Lagos. While it’s still an art fair, it’s clearly poised to become so much more.
