Lovers of arts, including Nigerians and foreigners, recently converged on Lagos for the ninth edition of LagosPhoto Festival with the theme, “Time Has Gone”, which showcased exhibitions, workshops, presentations, discussions, screening at The Federal Printing Press Building, Lagos Island, Lagos.
Also, there were Satellite exhibition venues in arts and cultural spaces throughout the city which extended to Omenka Gallery, Africans Artists’ Foundation, Gallery 16/16, Alliance Francaise, h.Factor and Railway (Yaba). While outdoor exhibitions in public spaces took place at Ikorodu Park, Falomo Roundabout (Ikoyi) and Freedom Park.
LagosPhoto was sponsored by the Mike Adenuga Centre, National Geographic, the US Consulate General of Lagos, British Council, Alliance Francaise, Institut Francais, andTemple Management Company. Other sponsors included Canon Central and North Africa, Fast Forward, UCA, Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency, Konbini, Tenaui Africa, Radisson Blu Hotel, The Market Workshop and Ford Foundation.
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The LagosPhoto Festivals aimed to provide a platform for the development and education of contemporary photography in Africa by establishing mentorships and cross-cultural collaborations with local and international artists.
The festival presented photography as it was embodied in the exploration of historical and contemporary issues,
the promotion of social programmes, and the reclaiming of public spaces.
The theme, “Time Has Gone” explored contemporary dialogues surrounding different facets of time, while artists
from around the globe were invited to discuss, confront and wrestle with this idea of urgency. Each, on their own way, investigated the practices of archiving, preservation, imagining the possibility of an Afro-based future, putting an end to a ‘‘time that is up’’ or the never-ending desire to reinterpret a past, laden with both nostalgia and/or hidden phantoms.
Some of the photographers that participated at the festival were Malala Andrialavidrazana (Madagascar/France),
Emmanuelle Andrianjafy (Madagascar), Ismaïl Bahri (Tunisia/France), Sandra Brewster (Canada/Guyana), Kwena Chokoe (South-Africa/Myanmar), CrazinisT (Ghana/Togo), Adji Dieye (Italy/Senegal), Ndidi Dike (Nigeria), Michele
Pearson Clarke (Canada/Trinidad), Mary Evans (UK/Nigeria), Abosede George (Nigeria/US), Mathilde ter Heijne (Holland/Germany), Amanda Iheme (Nigeria), Alfredo Jaar (Chile), Cassandra Klos (USA), Kitso Lynn Leliott (Botswana), Amina Menia (Algeria), Emo de Medeiros (Benin), Karl Ohiri (UK/Nigeria), Olu Olatunde (Nigeria), Chibuike Uzoma (Nigeria) and Charlotte Yonga (France/Cameroon).
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The Market Photo Workshop Exhibition showcased the work of artistes in partnership with the Market Photo
Workshop, South Africa, located in Newtown, Johannesburg, the Market Photo Workshop created an environment where students were able to learn, not only the technical and conceptual aspects of photography, but also ways of critical thinking integral to the understanding of contemporary photographic practice.
British Council supported the Women in Photography LagosPhoto session with the launch of the Fast Forward mentorship workshop. The programme is an international research project concerned with women photographers based at University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, UK.
The project investigated the significance of “remembering not to forget” the stories, both historical and contemporary, of women in photography across the globe. This first mentorship programme focused on emerging women photographers from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and the UK.