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| LagosPhoto | |
|---|---|
| Name | LagosPhoto |
| Established | 2010 |
| Location | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Type | Photography festival |
| Founders | See History and Founding |
LagosPhoto LagosPhoto is an annual international photography festival held in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria, showcasing contemporary photographic practices from Africa and the African diaspora. The festival convenes photographers, curators, collectors, critics, and institutions to present exhibitions, public programmes, workshops, and artist residencies across venues in Lagos and beyond. Through collaborations with museums, galleries, cultural organizations, and international partners, the festival situates Lagos within global circuits of visual culture and creative industries.
LagosPhoto brings together artists and institutions such as Tiwa Savage, Yinka Shonibare, Theaster Gates, Julius Hebert, Zanele Muholi, and Hassan Hajjaj alongside organizations like British Council, Goethe-Institut, Fondation Cartier, Smithsonian Institution, and Museum of Modern Art. The festival curates site-specific exhibitions in venues including National Museum Lagos, Nike Art Gallery, Terra Kulture, Freedom Park, and National Theatre, Lagos, and engages local communities in districts such as Ikeja, Victoria Island, Lagos Island, Surulere, and Lekki. Programming often intersects with events like Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, Gwangju Biennale, Venice Biennale, and Documenta through artist exchanges and curatorial partnerships.
Founded in 2010 by curators and cultural producers responding to networks linking Lagos State, Nigeria, and the broader African continent, the festival grew amid conversations involving figures and institutions such as Okwui Enwezor, Bisi Silva, Theo Eshetu, Chika Okeke-Agulu, and Simon Njami. Early editions collaborated with galleries including Catherine Edelman Gallery, Stevenson Gallery, and Stephen Friedman Gallery as well as academic partners like University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, and Yale University. The festival's history reflects exchanges with festivals and initiatives such as Photo London, Aperture Foundation, Pan African Film Festival, and Rencontres d'Arles.
Each edition features curated exhibitions, commissions, and a program of talks featuring critics and curators like Azu Nwagbogu, Okwui Enwezor, Boniface Mwangi, Clémentine Deliss, and Niemand Venter. The festival presents work by photographers and artists such as Samuel Fosso, J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, Lakin Ogunbanwo, Bayo Omoboriowo, Ebenizer Alabi, George Osodi, Penny Siopis, Sabelo Mlangeni, Aida Muluneh, Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, Rashid Johnson, and Hassan Hajjaj. Public programs include panel discussions with representatives from Getty Foundation, Ford Foundation, Prince Claus Fund, European Union, and UNESCO.
The festival has staged solo and group exhibitions, commissions, and public installations working with curators associated with Theaster Gates, Dadaocheng Art Festival, Zeitz MOCAA, Hayward Gallery, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou. Notable projects have involved photographers and artists such as Zanele Muholi, Mickael Tona, Sokari Douglas Camp, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Pieter Hugo, Jérôme Branche, Iké Udé, and Michael Tsegaye. Site-specific projects have activated sites including Lagos Island Market, Makoko, Bar Beach, Third Mainland Bridge, and Lekki Conservation Centre and engaged partners like Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and private collections such as The Saatchi Gallery.
Education initiatives include workshops, mentorship programs, portfolio reviews, and youth outreach working with institutions such as University of Lagos, Pan-Atlantic University, British Council, Goethe-Institut, Alliance Française, and National Gallery of Art. The festival's community engagement has partnered with NGOs and civic organizations like Nigeria Photographers Association, African Artists' Foundation, Reclaimed Spaces Initiative, and Slum/Shack Dwellers International to run programs in schools, community centres, and informal settlements in Ikeja, Makoko, Ojota, and Ajegunle. Residency programs have hosted visiting artists from institutions such as Yale School of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Columbia University.
Funding and partnerships for the festival have included public and private patrons and grantmakers such as Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Prince Claus Fund, British Council, Goethe-Institut, European Union, UNESCO, Getty Foundation, and corporate sponsors active in Lagos and beyond. Collaborations extend to museums and galleries including Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, V&A, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and regional institutions like The Zeitz MOCAA and Bag Factory Artists' Studios.
The festival has been discussed in critical forums and publications including Artforum, Frieze, The New York Times, The Guardian (London), BBC, Al Jazeera, and specialist outlets such as Aperture and Photoworks. Commentators compare its role to other platform-building events like Dakar Biennale, Biennale of Luanda, Johannesburg Art Fair, Cairo Photo Week, and Kigali Arts Institute for elevating photographic practices and fostering curatorial networks across Africa and the diaspora. The festival's impact is visible in expanded collecting by institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, Victoria and Albert Museum, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, and increased market presence of artists at fairs like Art Basel and 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
Category:Photography festivals