LAGOS BIENNIAL 2017 

Living on the Edge  |  October 14 – November 22, 2017  |  Lagos.

Living on the Edge, the 2017 inaugural edition of the Lagos Biennial encapsulated the foregoing ethos. The event, spanning two months, brought together thirty-seven artists from five continents to present a combination of new and pre-existing work across the city. Prior to the biennial’s opening, many of the artists engaged the city through extended residencies during which they collaborated with local artists and institutions and pursued independent research projects. Navigating Lagos’s oft-cited “chaos” and liveliness, much of the work in the inaugural edition waged organic responses to the city’s history and contemporary social dynamics. The core biennial exhibitions were held at the historic and, until recently, derelict Nigerian Railway Corporation in Yaba on the Lagos mainland. As suggested by its title, the exhibitions in the inaugural edition fostered interactions between visitors, artists, and local communities living in and around the railway terminal infrastructure. The result raised critical and provocative questions about art’s capacity to shed light on the city’s socioeconomic inadequacies and storied architectural history.

The Àkéte art Foundation is a non profit organisation with the main objective of hosting the Lagos Biennial. The Foundation is open to sponsorships, partnerships, and donations from private individuals, corporate organisations and institutions.

Lagos Biennial 2017 Team

List of Participating Artists for the Inaugural Edition of the Lagos Biennial

Oct 14 – Nov 22, 2017

Poku Mensah
May Okafor
Tori Wrånes
Januario Jano
Taiye Idahor
Silas Mensah
Jerry Buhari
Youngjoo Yoo
Ayo Akinwande