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Lagos Art Week 2026: Art Report Africa's Guide for Every Kind of Visitor
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Lagos Art Week 2026: Art Report Africa's Guide for Every Kind of Visitor

Only have time for a few exhibitions? An adventurer on a budget? Not sure where to begin? Here is how to make the most of Lagos Art Week.

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Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, Ruth, 2026. Metal, 28.5 x 28.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and O’DA Art Gallery.
Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, Ruth, 2026. Metal, 28.5 x 28.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and O’DA Art Gallery.

Between exhibitions, art fairs, festivals and public programmes, Lagos Art Week has more happening than anyone can reasonably fit in. Following our guide to Lagos Art Week alternatives, we’ve put together another selection of recommendations, this time based on how much time you have, how much money you can spare, and what kind of practices and conversations interest you.

1. The Busy Professional with Little Time to Spare

If you have only a few hours, pick two exhibitions in the same part of the city. A good starting point is O’DA Art, where Mobolaji Ogunrosoye presents Rest Where You Are Rooted, For You Are Rooted Where You Rest. The exhibition features works from her Portraits series, including Myriam: Rest Where You Are Rooted (2026) and Ruth: Three Stages of Reflection (2026). Ogunrosoye works with photography and mixed media to examine portraiture, identity and the representation of women. From 4 November, make Tiwani Contemporary your second stop, where Kelani Abass presents Becoming Immortal. Using family photographs as references for his paintings, Abass explores memory, ancestry and the stories passed down through generations. Becoming Immortal is open from 11am to 6pm, Wednesday to Saturday, and runs until 20 February 2027.

O’DA Art is at 10 Sir Samuel Manuwa Street, while Tiwani Contemporary is at 13 Elsie Femi Pearse Street, both in Victoria Island.


Hamed Maiye, Expansive, by nature, 2026. Oil, acrylic, acrylic ink, airbrush, spray paint, chalk, charcoal, oil pastel, archival fixative on canvas, 50 x 70 cm. Photo: Thomas Moen. Courtesy of the artists and FF Projects.

2. The Student on a Budget

Getting around Lagos as a student is tough enough without having to plan Art Week on a budget, too. Fortunately, many exhibitions are free to attend. Nomadic Art Gallery is a good place to begin. Its exhibition Every House Remembers, presented in collaboration with BoConcept, brings together Duke Asidere, Gbolahan Ayoola, Ato Arinze and Francis Agemo to explore how homes, objects and the human body preserve personal and collective histories. Curated by Mercy Imiegha, the exhibition extends into the adjoining BoConcept showroom, where artworks are displayed among furniture and other objects associated with domestic life. It runs from 1 to 28 November at 22 Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island. Admission is free.

Another free option is Gèlè, a joint exhibition by Arinze Stanley and Dotun Popoola at Alexis Galleries. Running from 24 October to 7 November, Gèlè brings together two artists whose practices span drawing, sculpture and mixed media. The gallery is at 282 Akin Olugbade Street, Victoria Island, and is open daily from 10am to 6pm during the exhibition.

For something more intimate, consider THE SALON, a studio experience with multidisciplinary artist Nola Ayoola, presented in partnership with Retro Africa. Rather than encountering the artist’s work in a conventional gallery, visitors are invited into her studio for private viewings and conversations about her practice. The programme runs from 5 to 10 November at 35 Glover Court, Ikoyi. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required.

Also in Ikoyi is Everyday Contradictions, a solo exhibition by Franco-Ivorian artist Gopal Dagnogo at Alliance Française de Lagos, Mike Adenuga Centre. Presented in Lagos for the first time, the exhibition draws on everyday objects, including food, bottles, furniture, clothing and product packaging, to examine consumer culture, personal aspirations and identity. It opens on 7 November and runs until 28 November at 9 Osborne Road, Ikoyi. It is open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am to 2pm on Saturday.


Nola Ayoola, The Morning Didn’t Rush, 2025. 83.82 x 154.94 cm. Woven: canvas, organza, oil pastel, silk screen ink, dye, pencil, acrylic paint, thread, woven bags, cotton and spray paint. Courtesy of Nola Ayoola.

3. The Adventurer with All the Time in the World

If you have several days to spare, congratulations. You can now resist the temptation to rush through every presentation and instead build different days around different parts of the city.

Begin in Victoria Island, where you can see Mobolaji Ogunrosoye’s exhibition at O’DA Art, Arinze Stanley and Dotun Popoola’s Gèlè at Alexis Galleries and, from 4 November, Kelani Abass’s Becoming Immortal at Tiwani Contemporary.

Set aside another day for Ikoyi. At Rele Gallery, Tonia Nneji presents Good Evening, Good Evening Street, an exhibition inspired by Goriola Street in Ajegunle. Known for its bookshops during the day, the street takes on a different character after dark. Good Evening, Good Evening Street examines the lives of women and the expectations placed on them, drawing on the street’s contrasting identities.

At SOTO Gallery, you’ll also want to see Onome Olotu’s Before We Know Ourselves (from 4 November), which brings together her Postcard Series and Mask Series. Through painting and printmaking, Olotu examines identity, displacement, body image and the ways personal histories are recorded or overlooked. The exhibition marks her first solo presentation in Nigeria.

On 7 November, you can also see the opening of In Daylight or In Dream, an exhibition by photographer Yagazie Emezi at DADA Gallery, 49 Norman Williams Street, Ikoyi.


Duke Asidere, Room 630, 2025. Oil on canvas, 88.9 x 86.36cm. Courtesy of the artist and Nomadic Art Gallery. 

Save a separate day for ART X Lagos at the Federal Palace in Victoria Island. The fair’s 11th edition takes place from 5 to 8 November, with public admission on 7 and 8 November. One exhibition to see is Ladi Kwali: Beyond the Vessel, curated by Jareh Das. Bringing together ceramics and archival material from the National Museum in Lagos and private collections, it examines the work of pioneering Nigerian potter Ladi Kwali alongside the Gbari pottery traditions she inherited and the women who worked alongside and after her.

There’s also a public discussion on Kwali’s legacy at 4.30pm on 7 November, beginning with a screening of Das’s documentary on the artist, followed by a conversation between the curator and ceramic artist Isis Dove-Edwin. If you’re interested in Nigerian art history and the relationship between art and craft, both programmes are worth making time for.


Remi Ajani, Gathering II, 2026. Oil on canvas, 120 x 150 cm. Photo: Thomas Moen. Courtesy of the artists and FF Projects.

4. The Enthusiast Who’s Unsure Where to Start

If you’ve only begun to dip your toes into the art world, a week full of gallery exhibitions and art fairs can feel overwhelming. Start with Rele Gallery in Ikoyi. There, Tonia Nneji’s Good Evening, Good Evening Street takes a recognisable Lagos setting as its point of departure, making it an accessible introduction to how artists draw on everyday places and experiences. The exhibition opens runs until 28 November. Visit SOTO Gallery next, also in Ikoyi, to see Onome Olotu’s Before We Know Ourselves, on view from 4 November. 

A great way to encounter several artists and different kinds of work in one place is ART X Lagos. Its gallery presentations bring together painting, sculpture, photography and other media, while the talks programme provides opportunities to hear artists, curators and other practitioners discuss their work.


Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, Rest Where You Are Rooted, For You Are Rooted Where You Restinstallation view. Photo: . Courtesy 

5. The Regular Gallery-Goer Looking for Something Different

If you’re already familiar with Lagos’s major galleries, consider using Art Week to explore programmes that take you beyond the usual exhibitions.

At the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Unsettling All Things Endlessly, featuring Andrea Chung, lets you engage with an artist’s ideas through a public programme rather than an exhibition visit. Presented by Sustaining the Otherwise in collaboration with Angels & Muse, the session takes place on 3 November.

Another recommendation is Call and Response, a two-person exhibition by Remi Ajani and Hamed Maiye at Alára in Victoria Island. The sixth presentation in FF Projects’ year-long residency at Alára, it brings together paintings that examine mythology, memory and belonging, and invites us to consider how stories, whether inherited or imagined, shape our understanding of the world. Call and Response is open from 11am to 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and runs until 29 November at 12A Akin Olugbade Street.



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© 2026 Art Report Africa. All Rights Reserved.

The definitive media, intelligence, and commerce platform for the African art market and its global diaspora.

© 2026 Art Report Africa. All Rights Reserved.

The definitive media, intelligence, and commerce platform for the African art market and its global diaspora.

© 2026 Art Report Africa. All Rights Reserved.