A Discussion Between Pelumi Odubanjo and Oludamola Adebowale
Join us at G.A.S. Lagos on September 3rd, 2025, for Picturing Return: Afro-Brazilian Archives in Nigeria, an evening that traces the histories, images, and narratives of the Aguda community and their enduring presence in Nigeria. Current resident Pelumi Odubanjo will be in dialogue with scholar, curator, and researcher Oludamola Adebowale, as they explore the living archive of Afro-Brazilian presence in Nigeria.
Pelumi's current practice explores the historical and contemporary relationship between Brazil and the West African diaspora, particularly Nigeria, through vernacular image-making. Her residency at G.A.S. Lagos has provided an opportunity to connect with Aguda communities, their descendants, and regional researchers, while also revisiting archives and oral histories that preserve firsthand and inherited accounts of cultural traditions carried across the Atlantic. Together, Pelumi and Adebowale will reflect on photographs and materials from Lagos, Ibadan, and Abeokuta, spanning the mid-1800s migration of returnees from Brazil through to the present. They will consider how images shape their research and why the preservation of archival materials remains vital to the history of the Aguda community today.
Event Details
Date: 3rd September, 2025
Time: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: 9b, Hakeem Dickson Drive, off T.F. Kuboye Road, Oniru, Lagos
This event is free however spaces are limited therefore it is essential to rsvp to secure your spot.
Programme Details
4:00pm | Opening Reception & Welcome Drinks
4:30pm | Opening Remarks & Introductions
4:35pm | Conversation between Pelumi Odubanjo and Oludamola Adebowale.
5:30pm | Audience Q&A
6:00pm | Closing & Refreshments
About the Speakers
Pelumi Odubanjo
Pelumi Odubanjo is a British-Nigeria curator, writer, and PhD researcher who works between Glasgow and London with a focus on exploring creative dialogues across global Black geographies. Pelumi is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow and a recipient of the James McCune Smith Scholarship, where she is researching the historical and contemporary relationship between Brazil and Nigeria through the production of vernacular images. Pelumi is a Curator at the Glasgow International and is the ICF’s (The International Curator’s Forum) Ten.8 Research & Curatorial Fellow.
Photo of Pelumi Odubanjo. Image courtesy of the artist.
Oludamola Adebowale
Oludamola Adebowale is a distinguished Nigerian archivist, historian, writer, and curator, deeply committed to preserving and sharing the country’s rich cultural and historical heritage. His expertise in Nigerian history and culture is supported by a diverse academic background spanning Estate Management from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; Integrated Branding and Copywriting from Orange Academy; Business and Marketing Development from the Lagos Entrepreneurial Business School; and Copyright and Intellectual Property Law through the CopyrightX programme, offered by Harvard Law School in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of Lagos).
He is also the creative director and founder of ASIRI Magazine, Nigeria’s foremost platform for history, archival materials, and well-researched cultural content. His work with ASIRI Magazine has been cited and referenced by top colleges, universities, and academic institutions across the world. He is a regular contributor to the Arts and Culture pages of Guardian Life, the Sunday magazine of Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper. His groundbreaking articles—such as Women Arise in the Face of Misogyny: A Cultural and Historical Perspective; Jaja of Opobo: Rivers of Oil and Blood; Re-Discovering Benin Art: A Universal Vessel for Cultural Importance; and ÀBÍKÚ: A Thin Line Between Tradition and Science—have been widely read and cited by scholars within and beyond Nigeria.
In 2020, Oludamola was among a select group of Nigerians invited by the Horniman Museums and Gardens (UK) to participate in the #ThenAndNow: Nigeria at 60 Interrogative Project. As a heritage specialist, his work on the importance of language was cited by France Info Africa, a major French news outlet, in its coverage of the disqualification of Genevieve Nnaji’s film Lionheart from the 2020 Academy Awards.
Photo of Oludamola Adebowale. Image courtesy of The Guardian Life.
Pelumi’s residency is generously supported through funding from the James McCune Smith Scholarship at the University of Glasgow.
