LagosPhoto Biennial: the inaugural edition

"There's a ghostly black and white photo of a cloaked figure standing in a forest, dwarfed by soaring trees. The image, by Ethiopian artist Geremew Tigabu, is a hauntingly beautiful representation of the confinement and shelter that forests can offer, and one of several photographs now showing at the inaugural African Artists' Foundation (AAF)'s LagosPhoto Biennial. Held across four venues in Lagos and Ibadan, the festival is the brainchild of head curator Azu Nwagbogu,"

"This year's theme, 'Incarceration', can be explored from a broad range of angles, Azu Nwagbogu believes, from the obvious physical confinement of prisons to the more subtle intellectual and psychological ways humans can be confined. "It can be imposed by external forces," he says, "or self-inflicted through our own mental models and societal structures. Through this theme, we aim to challenge artists to uncover and liberate narratives that resonate with our times.""

"The programme includes solo works, collaborations, screenings and talks, and the biennial's open-call selection includes a mix of internationally renowned veterans like Yagazie Emezi and emerging talents like Ayobami Ogungbe. The latter's arresting images of people have a tactile-looking, woven texture that cleverly symbolises the migrant's marginal place in society. Meanwhile, ecology is explored in Sharbendu De's images of the Lisu people from his 2016 Imagined Homeland series."

The inaugural LagosPhoto Biennial presents photographic works across four venues in Lagos and Ibadan. Azu Nwagbogu founded the African Artists' Foundation (AAF) in 2009 and transitioned the LagosPhoto Festival from an annual event into a biennial to allow deeper thematic exploration. The biennial theme, 'Incarceration', examines physical confinement, psychological and intellectual constraints, and structural or self-imposed limitations. The programme features solo works, collaborations, screenings, talks, and an open-call selection combining established artists and emerging talents. Works include Geremew Tigabu's forest cloaked figure, Ayobami Ogungbe's woven-texture portraits of migrants, Sharbendu De's Imagined Homeland images of the Lisu, and pieces addressing ecology, religion, identity, migration, and architecture.

Read at CN Traveller