Germany | May - June 2022

Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock is the Executive Managing Co-Director at SAVVY Contemporary where she is part of the participatory archive project Colonial Neighbours. She dedicated much of her G.A.S. residency to imagining archival formats that exist beyond institutional structures. In particular, how vernacular systems could be created from within to provide opportunities for both art spaces, and for creative individuals to interact with each other. ⁠

The result was her weekly Wetin Dey Cook series, conceived to create an intimate environment where artists, collectors, curators and people from all walks of life could get together to exchange and meet in a relaxed atmosphere. ⁠Each week an artist was invited to cook for the guests and present their work during the shared meal. It was a wonderful opportunity for creatives to exchange ideas, plot, ask questions, and imagine together over cake, pepper soup and poundo. ⁠

Lynhan was awarded her residency by TURN2, a programme developed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation to facilitate artistic co-creation between Germany and African countries.

Nigeria | June - July 2022

Olorunfemi Johnson is a Director and Producer working in fields of arts and culture and its future in the context of digital adoption moving into a web3.0 meta world. He has worked with numerous cultural initiatives documenting and researching African identity and culture and is currently the Digital Heritage Specialist at the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA).

Femi used the residency to grapple with questions surrounding the essence and evolution of the human experience and its relationship to art at the intersection of primary, virtual and augmented realities.

During his time at G.A.S., he hosted Maison Du Lumiere, an event that brought together thinkers, practitioners, and thought leaders working within the spheres of VR and AR. Together with an invited audience, they interrogate provocations such as ‘given the biases and hierarchies in the tech world, are we building a universal future?’ and ‘do you believe that technological advancements will bring us closer or further away from African spiritual principles?’.

Femi was one of the seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award announced in February 2022.

Nigeria | June - July 2022

Uzor Ugoala is a self-taught Nigerian conceptual photographer and sculptor whose practice explores the human psyche in relation to the nuances of our existence. Through his work he seeks to understand patterns that govern the self with a particular focus on those that may be reinforced by culture and society.

Uzor used his residency to develop his sculpture practice and create work that could stand alone from his historically primarily photographic output. During the Residents Presentation, an event hosted to conclude his time at G.A.S. Lagos, he presented two new sculptures created during his residency.

Uzor was one of the seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award announced in February 2022.

In October 2023, Stephen Friedman Gallery's new London location on Cork Street, Mayfair, unveiled an exciting exhibition titled Free The Wind, The Spirit, and The Sun, featuring new work by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA. The exhibition also showcased a diverse group of African artists and talents from the African diaspora, curated by Shonibare. Untitled, a sculpture created by Uzor during his residency, was included in the exhibition.

London | August - September 2022

Emma Prempeh lives and works in London. She studied at Goldsmiths University of London graduating in 2019 and winning the Alumno/Space bursary award in 2020. She attended MA Painting at the Royal College of Art under the LeverHulme Trust Arts Scholarship winning the Valerie Beston Trust Arts award for 2022.

Emma was Tiwani Contemporary’s inaugural Artist in Residence at G.A.S. She used the period in Nigeria to develop and finish new work for a solo presentation at the gallery’s Lagos venue on Victoria Island between the 8th of September and the 28th of October 2022.⁠

Emma's residency was supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

Nigeria | August - September 2022

Ofem Ubi is a multidisciplinary artist from Nigeria who uses poetry, photography and film to drive conversations and preserve memories through storytelling and documentation.

Ofem used the residency to develop new work and broaden the scope and potential of all the art forms he engages with through his practice. During his time at G.A.S. he held his first solo exhibition in the space, published a book of poetry largely written during the residency, and produced a film that acts as a record of his time at G.A.S. It was also an opportunity for him to network and connect with the arts and culture sector in Lagos which in part resulted in his first artwork sale.

Ofem was one of the seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award announced in February 2022.

UK | August - September 2022

Mariam Hava Aslam is an activist and spatial designer who works with community groups and organisations. Her focus is on urban climate action and designing for emergent socio-environmental futures. She is interested in the intersections between climate, ecology, design and agriculture and is currently exploring design as a tool to kickstart growing and ecological living in the city.

Mariam completed her residency between Lagos and the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu where she began researching food preservation methods as a speculative way of addressing food insecurity. Following her time at G.A.S. she was accepted into a residency run by Lagos based collective hFactor, a new creative hub and living experimental space devoted to exploring the intersections of art, design, agriculture and wellness. Here she was able to further develop the research initiated at G.A.S. and begin looking into the possibilities of reappropriating urban roadside gardens as places to grow food.

Mariam was awarded her residency through the University of the Arts London (UAL) Art for the Environment (AER) programme. It provides UAL graduates with the opportunity to apply for a funded residency at one of their internationally renowned host institutions, to explore concerns that define the 21st century including biodiversity, environmental sustainability, social economy and human rights.

UK | September - October 2022

British-Nigerian architectural designer and multidisciplinary artist Antoinette Oni was one of the first residents to experience the G.A.S. Farm House and Ecology Green Farm.

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Antoinette was studying MA Architecture at Central Saint Martins when she was selected for the AER residency via an open call. She focused her time at the farm on developing her current research that considers surplus plant matter such as water hyacinth fibres and banana tree bark in construction and local craft to support the economic revitalisation of communities in West Africa.⁠

Antoinette was awarded her residency through the University of the Arts London (UAL) Art for the Environment (AER) residency programme. It provides UAL graduates with the opportunity to apply for a funded residency at one of their internationally renowned host institutions, to explore concerns that define the 21st century including biodiversity, environmental sustainability, social economy and human rights.

UK | September - November 2022

Seyi Adelekun is an artist, architectural designer and creative practitioner based in London. Their practice focuses on enhancing social infrastructures, and promoting environmental stewardship and regenerative circular economies through community co-designed placemaking.

Seyi approached the residency as a research and development period using their time in Nigeria to deepen knowledge of the Yorubas spiritual and ancestral relationship with nature through arts and craft, movement and embodiment practices.

Their residency culminated in a debut performance at G.A.S. Lagos which they shared with the local arts community. It was a powerful comment on the intersection of water pollution and spirituality in Nigeria, and was ultimately captured by the BBC as part of the Africa Rising TV series hosted by Afua Hirsch. 

As a direct result of the residency, South London Gallery selected Seyi for the exhibition Lagos, Peckham, Repeat: A Pilgrimage to the Lakes where they presented Àdìre Wata. This piece, stemming from their time in Nigeria, delved into the sacred significance of water for memory, healing, and transformation. Comprising recycled plastic bottles filled with natural dye, including indigo sourced during a residency field trip to Abeokuta, it symbolised a fusion of environmental consciousness and artistic expression. 

Seyi’s residency was funded by a successful Big Give crowdfunding campaign that was undertaken by the Yinka Shonibare Foundation in December 2022.

Zimbabwe | October - November 2022

Portia Zvavahera was born in 1985 in Harare where she currently lives and works. She has had six solo exhibitions at Stevenson Cape Town and Johannesburg (2014-20), and two at David Zwirner, London and New York (2020–21). The Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean in Mauritius presented a small survey, Walk of Life, in 2020. A two-person show, Portia Zvavahera and Gustav Klimt: A Dialogue, took place at De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, in 2019. Zvavahera held a solo exhibition, Under My Skin, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, in 2010.

Portia featured in the main exhibition of the 59th Venice Biennale, The Milk of Dreams. She represented Zimbabwe at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 as part of the exhibition Dudziro: Interrogating the Visions of Religious Beliefs at the Zimbabwean Pavilion.

She used her residency to develop new paintings for I See You, a group exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean artists held at Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos. Her residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

Zimbabwe | October - November 2022

Gideon Gomo is a visual artists and sculptor based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He studied at the National Gallery Visual Arts Studios of Zimbabwe and has exhibited extensively internationally in Germany, South Africa, Austria and his native Zimbabwe. He has completed both local and international artist residencies in Germany and South Africa and participated in the Oberncation Sculpture Symposium in 2009 and again in 2012.

His practice has always focused on everyday life and his lived experience. Gideon’s current preoccupation is the exploration of emotions, and specifically uncovering emotions that men don’t typically express due to social and societal constraints and expectations.

He used his residency to develop new sculptures for I See You, a group exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean artists held at Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos. His residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

Germany | October - December 2022

Miriam Bettin is a curator and writer based in Cologne. She used her residency to deepen her knowledge of traditional Nigerian textile practices and histories.

To conclude her residency at G.A.S. Miriam hosted the first exhibition at the G.A.S. Farm House. It brought together artists and designers whose work with textiles emphasises the fluid, transformative, anti-colonial, emancipatory, and queer-feminist qualities of the medium. The artists shared a dedication to tradition and at times nostalgia that was reimagined in the context of contemporary discourses and aesthetics.

It was followed by Queering the Subversive Dye: Thoughts on Textile and Gender: a conversation with Matthew Blaise, Dolapo Osunsina, Adebayo Quadry-Adekanbi, Zee and Adeju Thompson that was focused on textiles and gender whilst touching on questions of spiritual practices, pre-colonial queer politics, gender identities and performance, as well as degendering fashion.

Miriam was awarded her residency by TURN2, a programme developed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation to facilitate artistic co-creation between Germany and African countries. ⁠

Nigeria | November - December 2022

Sarafadeen Bello is a design architect and creative based in Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated with a degree in Architecture from Ivanovo State Polytechnic University in Russia. He was a participant in the first Young Critics programme in Nigeria organised by the International Association of Theatre critics, British Council Nigeria and the Guardian Nigeria in 2017.

His works and artistic medium of expression are are primarily through text, essays, research, design and installations. His areas of interest operate within the overlapping boundaries of architecture, urban design, restitution, culture, social inclusion as well as the intersection of art and public realm participation. He strongly believes in the power of the arts as a tool for social change.

Artefacts (Re)connecting … Can you sense them? was an exhibition coordinated by Sarafadeen Bello to conclude his residency at G.A.S. Lagos. It questions the state of our archives, the assumed neutrality of the digital, as well as the impacts of digital restitution on the ongoing process of restitution as a whole. Through the work, he interrogated notions around who these digital replicas belong to, who they are relevant for, and what it means more broadly in terms of access.

Sarafadeen was one of the seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award announced in February 2022.

Germany | January - February 2023

Dr Mahret Ifeoma Kupka is an art scholar, freelance writer and, since 2013, senior curator at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. In her exhibitions, lectures, publications, and interdisciplinary projects, she addresses the issues of racism, memory culture, representation, and the decolonisation of art and cultural practices in Europe and on the African continent. She is a member of the advisory board of the Initiative of Black people in Germany (ISD), the art magazine TEXTE ZUR KUNST, and a founding member of the Neue Deutsche Museumsmacher*innen (a network of BIPoC museum practitioners in Germany).

During her residency, Mahret aimed to deepen her connections with arts and culture professionals in Nigeria, fostering new relationships within the sector. To conclude her residency, she organised UNEXPECTED LESSONS, a discursive symposium designed to facilitate debates surrounding restitution.

Mahret's residency was supported by TURN2, a programme developed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation to encourage artistic co-creation between Germany and African countries.

Nigeria | January 2023

Samuel Nnorom holds an MFA in sculpture from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His accolades include the 3rd and 1st prizes from the National Gallery of Art in 2010 and 2012, respectively, as well as recognition in the 2016, 2017, and 2019 editions of the Life in My City Art Festival. In 2019, he also received the 1st prize in the leatherwork category at Icreate Africa. Samuel has been invited to participate in significant workshops, group exhibitions, and residencies, including the international art workshop hosted by IICD at the United States Embassy in Abuja (2019), the Rela Young Contemporary Bootcamp (2021), and the Cassirer Welz Award in South Africa (2021). He was a recipient of the 2022 Royal Over-Seas League and Art House Residency in London, among others.

This residency became a pivotal opportunity for Samuel to push artistic boundaries and explore new styles of making. Nnorom showcased his creative evolution in The Politics of Fabrics, a studio installation held at G.A.S. Lagos. After his residency, Nnorom was invited to present some of the works produced during the residency in a solo exhibition at the Mitochondria Gallery in Texas, USA. Additionally, he held his first solo gallery show in Lagos with Tiwani Contemporary.

Samuel was one of seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award, announced in February 2022.

South Africa | January - February 2023

Nolan Oswald Dennis is a para-disciplinary artist. Their practice explores ‘a black consciousness of space’ - the material and metaphysical conditions of decolonisation - questioning histories of space and time through system-specific, rather than site-specific interventions. They hold a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and a Science Master’s degree in Art, Culture and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Their work has been featured in exhibitions at the Goodman Gallery (Johannesburg, Cape Town, London), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), MACBA (Barcelona), AutoItalia SouthEast (London), CAN (Neuchatel), the Young Congo Biennale (Kinshasa) among others.

They are a founding member of artist groups NTU and the Index Literacy Program, as well as a research associate at the VIAD research centre at the University of Johannesburg.

During their residency, Nolan developed and expanded their network of Nigerian practitioners while exploring potential collaborations in preparation for their participation in the 2023 edition of the Lagos Biennial. 

Nolan’s residency was generously supported by Goodman Gallery.

USA | March 2023

Umar Rashid, born in 1976 in Chicago, Illinois, is an artist currently residing and working in Los Angeles, California. He earned his BA from Southern Illinois University in 2000. For the past seventeen years, Rashid has been documenting the intricate, historical, and episodic saga of a fictional world superpower known as the Frenglish Empire. Spanning the years 1658 to 1880, this empire encompasses a transcontinental realm comprising dominions, protectorates, and colonies, including England, France, Turkey, India, the Caribbean, and Australia. Throughout its history, the Frenglish Empire engages in military campaigns, political intrigues, dynastic alliances, and notably, colonial exploits driven by survivalist and expansionist imperial policies. Over the centuries, it faces significant rival states, including its suzerain, the North American Belhaven Republic, and a defiant Dutch republic known as the Batavian Empire.

During his residency, Umar focused on deepening connections with his heritage and expanding his research into traditional Adire techniques, with the aim of incorporating the dye and resist method into his richly textured tapestry pieces.

Umar's residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

UK | March 2023

Evan Ifekoya is an interdisciplinary artist working with text, sound, and video. Their current practice explores the potential for an erotic and poetic occupation through film, performative writing, and sound, emphasising co-authored, intimate forms of knowledge production and the radical possibilities of spectacle.

Evan's ongoing project, A Score, A Groove, A Phantom, delves into archives of Blackness, sociality, and inheritance, examining how these elements intersect with queer nightlife and trauma in the contemporary moment. They are also a member of the Turner Prize-nominated collective B.O.S.S. (Black Obsidian Sound System).

During their residency, Evan focused on building and expanding their network with Nigerian practitioners while exploring potential collaborations in preparation for their participation in the Lagos Biennial, with a particular emphasis on sonic expression. Their residency at G.A.S. culminated in "Water is Life, O!"—a listening session that blended diverse sounds gathered throughout their time in Lagos. The sonic offering featured a rich tapestry of voiceovers from both mundane and intentional encounters across the city, layered with marine acoustics from Lagos' lagoons, various beaches, the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, and the historical site of Badagry, known for its former slave trade port.

Evan's residency was delivered in partnership with Lagos Biennial.

USA | March 2023

Raymond Pinto is a multidisciplinary performance artist whose work centres on the African diaspora, drawing from queer and Black archives. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he studied dance and graduated from the Juilliard School in 2013, later earning a master's degree in Performance Studies from New York University. Raymond has collaborated with internationally touring dance companies and renowned choreographers, including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Gauthier Dance, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Bill T. Jones, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Shikeith, Kevin Beasley, and Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion.

During his residency, Raymond focused on building and expanding his network with Nigerian practitioners, exploring potential collaborations in anticipation of his participation in the Lagos Biennial. His work specifically investigated embodied movement and traditional masquerade performance. To conclude his residency, he presented a performance at G.A.S. Lagos and hosted Carry My Not Knowing, a movement workshop for the local community. 

Raymond's esidency was delivered in partnership with Lagos Biennial.

UK | March - April 2023

Nate is a Cultural Curator and Educator whose work brings attention to emergent thinking through research, art, and speculative design. Their practice exists in the liminal space between culture and social innovation, manifesting in diverse forms such as community gardens, films, lectures, and arts programming—using creativity and knowledge exchange to envision new futures.

During their residency, Nate explored world-building as a transformative tool in society, aiming to use ritual design and placemaking to develop solutions grounded in cultural programming. On 6th April 2023, they hosted Third Spaces at G.A.S. Lagos, an evening of knowledge exchange, social innovation, and networking. The event collaboratively examined how we create spaces for culture and included participatory co-creation sessions, alongside a panel discussion between Nate and architect, designer, and urbanist Papa Omotayo.

Nate's residency was independently funded.

USA | March - April 2023

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’ paintings emerge from a perspective of what the artist describes as ‘cultural addition, combination and collaboration’. Born and educated in the UK and now living and working in the USA, his practice is inspired by the ancient history of West Africa and its attendant mythology, and by his Yoruba heritage. Often beginning with studies in ink pen or watercolour on paper as a means to explore his imagery, Adeniyi-Jones employs a varied palette and works with different seasons or times of day. His characters and forms are repeated and re-worked in multi-panel paintings which depict figures in small groups or pairs, invoking the ritualised repetition integral to ceremonial processes.

During his six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Tunji split his time between research and practice, using the residency as a foundation to develop future work. He concluded his stay by hosting Interwoven Histories, a convening of contemporary artists Victor Ehikhamenor and Gbolahan Ayoola, along with curator and artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi. Facilitated by Tunji, this gathering was a platform for reflection, dialogue, and artistic exchange, offering insights into the vibrant local arts scene. His residency provided a rich period of exploration, connection, and inspiration, drawing from the dynamic cultural ecosystem of Lagos.

Benin | April 2023

Tobi Onabolu is a multidisciplinary storyteller who navigates the intersections of conceptual, audiovisual, written, and experiential arts. Driven by his ikigai—a deep sense of purpose—Tobi advocates for cultural Pan-Africanism through collaboration, storytelling, and healing. His work delves into themes of identity, space, time, and spirituality, celebrating African and Diasporic cultures. His award-winning short film Dear Black Child exemplifies these themes, resonating with audiences by addressing the complexities of Black identity and heritage.

During his residency, primarily spent at the G.A.S. Farm House, Tobi explored frequencies and vibrations through the lens of Yoruba culture. His research engaged deeply with the natural environment, his own body, and music, allowing him to investigate the connections between physical and spiritual realms. On 4th May 2023, he presented Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?, an immersive installation and performance. This multimedia work, incorporating video, photography, sound, poetry, and performance, interrogated the process of liberating the subconscious mind and body from external forces of control.

Tobi was one of seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award, announced in February 2022.

Senegal | April - May 2023

Laeïla Adjovi is a Beninese-French multidisciplinary artist based in Dakar, Senegal. As a photographer, visual artist, and researcher, her work explores themes of cultural hybridity, multi-layered identities, visible and invisible borders, and African cultural heritage. Her work has been showcased in numerous countries, including Senegal, Ethiopia, Morocco, Benin, France, South Africa, the UK, the US, and Cuba.

During her residency, Laeïla conducted research on Yemoja rites and Yoruba oral literature, gathering interviews, photography, and creating maps while also writing fiction inspired by her findings. She connected with experts in these fields and used her time between field trips to produce new work and reflect on the information she collected. After her residency, she distilled her findings into a report that can serve as a valuable resource for future residents.

Laeïla was one of seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award, announced in February 2022.

UK | April 2023

Chiizii is an interdisciplinary artist, designer and researcher. Born in London, raised in New York and Igbo. Working heavily with but not limited to, painting, collage and textile design. Her work centres on the specificities of Igbo, Nigerian and African experiences and histories. Her current research aims to establish the significance of art in the communication and maintenance of Igbo food culture as well as the use of making art as a learning method and presenting art as a teaching method.

During her residency, Chiizii deepened her engagement with Nigerian culture, using the time to conduct research and develop new work for the South London Gallery exhibition Peckham, Lagos, Repeat: A Pilgrimage to the Lakes. This opportunity allowed her to further ground her practice in Nigerian traditions while expanding her artistic inquiry. 

In 2022, Chiizii also completed a digital residency with Guest Projects Digital, a continuation of Yinka Shonibare CBE's UK-based Guest Projects residency program.

Her residency was generously supported by South London Gallery.

Nigeria | May 2023

In May 2023, G.A.S. hosted an organisational residency in partnership with the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos (CCA). Over four weeks, CCA curated a series of themed events, workshops, and salons within the G.A.S. Lagos building while three invited creative practitioners resided in the artist quarters. Amongst them were Nairobi-based curator Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo, a member of I Continue to Continue, a collective formed during the 8th edition of the Asiko Art School in Cape Verde. Also in residence were Finnish artist and researcher Meri Linna, alongside Quebec-based multidisciplinary artist and printmaker Alison Naturale.

This collaboration underscored our shared commitment to fostering cross-organisational partnerships within Nigeria’s arts ecosystem. It enabled the sharing of resources and expertise while facilitating impactful experiences and vital dialogues that aimed to elevate the local community.

Kenya | May - June 2023

Rosie Olang' Odhiambo is an independent curator, artist, and bookmaker whose work focuses on zines, artist’s books, and unconventional book structures. Her artistic and curatorial interests span visual arts, literature, and poetry, drawing on decolonial, queer, feminist, and Black radical traditions. Recently, she has expanded her practice to include sound installations and performance, using these mediums to explore the art of listening.

Rosie has held various roles in research, communications, writing, and project management with arts and culture organisations across East Africa and the United States. She is the co-founder of MagicDoor, an experimental publishing imprint in Nairobi, and previously served as Head of Programmes at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute.

In May 2023, Rosie participated in the pan-African travelling workshop Àsìkò Art School, which returned to Lagos to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Lagos. Hosted at G.A.S. Lagos, the week-long, residency-based workshop brought together Àsìkò alumni, including Rosie, alongside new and long-standing partners from across the globe to engage with the theme of shyness.

Rosie was part of a diverse group in residence at G.A.S., which included collaborators from Nordic Studios, artist Alison Naturale, and artist and educator Meri Linna

Canada | May - June 2023

Alison Naturale is a Montreal-based artist whose practice spans print design, video installation, and interactive documentary. Her work often engages with place-based art projects, having collaborated on initiatives in diverse locations such as Denver, Colorado; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Long Beach Island, New Jersey; Banff, Alberta; and Rejmyre, Sweden. In addition to her artistic practice, Alison serves as Managing Editor at Drawn & Quarterly, a renowned publisher of graphic novels and art books.

In May 2023, Alison participated in the pan-African travelling workshop Àsìkò Art School, which returned to Lagos to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Lagos. Hosted at G.A.S. Lagos, the week-long, residency-based workshop brought together Àsìkò alumni, including Alison, alongside new and long-standing partners from across the globe to engage with the theme of shyness.

Alison was part of a diverse group in residence at G.A.S., which included collaborators from Nordic Studios, Meri Linna, and independent curator and bookmaker Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo.

Finland | May - June 2023

Meri Linna is a visual artist known for her collaborative practice, most notably as part of the duo Harrie Liveart, alongside Saija Kassinen. Since 2010, their work has drawn from various areas of visual art, incorporating video, sound, installation, sculpture, and performance. Their current project, Collective Perversion, explores attitudes toward freshwater and bodily processes through the unique lens of the toilet bowl.

In May 2023, Meri participated in the pan-African travelling workshop Àsìkò Art School, which returned to Lagos to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Lagos. Hosted at G.A.S. Lagos, the week-long, residency-based workshop brought together Àsìkò alumni, including Meri, alongside new and long-standing partners from across the globe to engage with the theme of shyness.

Meri was part of a diverse group in residence at G.A.S., which included collaborators from Nordic Studios, Alison Naturale, and independent curator and bookmaker Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo.

India | June 2023

Raqs Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta) are variously described as artists, media practitioners, curators, researchers, editors and catalysts of cultural processes. Their work is located at the intersections of contemporary art, historical enquiry, philosophical speculation, research and theory, often taking the form of installations, online and offline media objects, performances and encounters.

In June 2023, the collective undertook a residency at the G.A.S. Farm House on Ecology Green Farm in Ikise, Ogun State, where they developed their new work, Na-Bam: Measure without Measure. The piece was their contribution to the World Weather Network, a global constellation of 28 arts agencies from around the world formed as a means of fostering interdisciplinary responses to the ongoing climate crisis.

Research for Na-Bam began in India, with fieldwork conducted along the 28th parallel north in locations such as the Teesta River in Sikkim, the Indus River in Ladakh, and the deserts of Rajasthan. The work evolved further in Nigeria, where Raqs Media Collective embarked on research trips to the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Osun State. These explorations deepened their engagement with local ecologies and mythologies.

At the end of their residency, the collective hosted Thinking with the Blood of Stars, a screening of their film The Blood of Stars, followed by a discussion that offered insights into their research and residency experience.

Na-Bam: Measure without Measure was first exhibited at Khoj Studios, New Delhi, in January 2024.

Sweden | May 2023

Miranda Hagborg studied Business Administration at Stockholm University and holds a Bachelor of Real Estate and Finance from the Royal Institute of Technology. She has professional experience in investment banking and private equity. At the time of her residency, she was completing a Master's in Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. 

Miranda undertook her residency with her Master's thesis collaborator Alexei Moore and used the opportunity to gain knowledge and expertise, but also learn from others who have actively participated in the evolution of Lagos’ private capital landscape. 

Having access to this on-the-ground knowledge and understanding of Nigeria’s cultural context and history gave their research a nuance and depth that they would not be able to achieve solely through academic study and analysis of private capital in the global north.

Upon their return to Stockholm, they shared their findings during an interactive virtual seminar. Guests based primarily in Sweden and Nigeria were invited to respond to prompts that helped uncover some of the differences and similarities between the two markets and contexts.
 

Miranda and Alexei's residencies were supported through a partnership with the Stockholm School of Economics.

Sweden | May 2023

Alexei Moore has previously studied a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney, specialising in Finance, Economics, International Relations and Accounting. He has professional experience in strategy consulting and venture capital. At the time of her residency, she was completing a Masters in Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. 

Alexei undertook his residency with his Masters thesis collaboratorMiranda Hagborg and used the opportunity to gain knowledge and expertise, but also learn from others who have actively participated in the evolution of Lagos’ private capital landscape. 

Having access to this on-the-ground knowledge and understanding of Nigeria’s cultural context and history gave their research a nuance and depth that they would not be able to achieve solely through academic study and analysis of private capital in the global north.

Upon their return to Stockholm, they shared their findings during an interactive virtual seminar. Guests based primarily in Sweden and Nigeria were invited to respond to prompts that helped uncover some of the differences and similarities between the two markets and contexts.

Alexei and Miranda’s residency was supported through a partnership with the Stockholm School of Economics.

UK | August - September 2023

Okiki Akinfe is a UK-based visual artist with a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London. During her residency at the G.A.S. Foundation, she immersed herself in Yoruba culture, drawing inspiration from the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive and engaging with key cultural figures in Lagos. She also spent significant time researching and developing natural pigments from local materials, which she plans to integrate into her evolving artistic practice.

At the end of her residency, Okiki hosted Young Artists Open Critique, alongside artist Chidinma Nnoli and Tracian Meikle, Director of 1952 Africa. The aim of the intimate session was to create a supported environment for networking and peer review, to offer an opportunity to exercise evaluation and critical review skills, and to use the presented work as a point of departure for in-depth discussions about practice.

In October 2023, her painting The Road to Damascus, was included in Free the Wind, The Spirit, and The Sun, an exhibition curated by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA at Stephen Friedman Gallery’s new location on Cork Street, Mayfair. The exhibition highlighted a diverse range of African and African diaspora artists.

Okiki’s residency was generously supported by our Residency Patrons.

Scotland | September - October 2023

Leo Robinson is a multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work explores the intersection of symbolism and spiritual technologies through a distinct creative lens. His recent solo exhibitions include The Infinity Card at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff and Theories for Cosmic Joy at Tiwani Contemporary in London.

His residency at G.A.S. Lagos became a pivotal incubator for his artistic practice, offering fresh perspectives and an inspiring environment for developing new work. During this time, Leo delved into creating fantastical string instruments, experimenting with block printing, and producing intricate works on paper.

A field trip to the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria profoundly influenced his 2024 Bloomberg SPACE commission, DREAM-BRIDGE-OMNIGLYPH.

As part of the residency’s conclusion, Leo hosted The Imaginary in the Diaspora, a thought-provoking talk where he shared insights into the methodologies and concepts shaping his practice, particularly around the creation of imaginary cultures and rituals.

Leo's residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

Austria | September - November 2023

Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński is a Vienna-based writer, artist, and researcher whose works manifest themselves through a variety of media. Rooted in Black feminist theory, she has developed a research-based and process-oriented investigative practice that deals with the condition of Black life in the African diaspora. She interlaces with varying spaces and temporalities, thereby resisting a clean-cut separation between documentary and speculation.

Belinda was the winner of the Access ART X Prize 2022/23 that awards early and mid career artists from Africa and its Diaspora with opportunibes to develop their practices, with the intention of setting them up for the highest levels of success on the global stage. In tandem with the prize she presented work developed during the residency at the 2023 edition of ART X.

To conclude her residency Belinda hosted Free Writing as a Tool, a workshop designed to encourage the use of writing for refining and amplifying creative concepts. Participants from the local community learnt how to harness writing as a means of sharpening their artistic vision, and Belinda shared tips and tricks for navigating the open call application processes.

Germany | September - October 2023

Naima Hassan is a researcher and curator based in Berlin. Since 2022, she has led the development of the Picton Archive at G.A.S. Foundation (Lagos) as Associate Archivist and Curator. Her practice moves between the visual, sonic and textual, to inform transnational and situated actions on African archive collections.

During her residency at G.A.S., Naima collaborated with Billy Fowo to explore the rich histories of African cultural festivals and artist clubs, focusing on archives related to FESTAC ’77 and the iconic Mbari Club. As her residency progressed, she transitioned into an intensive cataloguing phase, overseeing the installation of the final segment of the Picton Collection and the G.A.S. Library.

To conclude her residency, Naima led a hybrid reading group session that brought together members of the Art and Culture Study Group, G.A.S. residents, alumni, and industry stakeholders. The group explored early writings on restitution through the lens of FESTAC ’77 and FESMAN.

Her residency was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through a collaboration between GIZ, the Goethe-Institut, and TheMuseumsLab Alumni Projects.

Germany | September 2023

Billy Fowo is a Berlin-based curator and writer, currently working at SAVVY Contemporary – The Laboratory of Form-Ideas in Germany. Deeply rooted in the concept of the "laboratory," Billy’s curatorial practice focuses on rethinking and expanding the exhibition format, making it a core aspect of his research. His interests span multiple fields and disciplines, including sonic arts, linguistics, and literature, and his work critically examines what constitutes knowledge and the spaces where it is found.

During his residency at G.A.S. in Lagos, Billy collaborated with Naima Hassan to explore the extensive histories of African cultural festivals and artist clubs, with a particular focus on archives connected to FESTAC ’77 and the iconic Mbari Club. His research delved into the importance of multilingualism and translation, especially in performance-based archives, offering fresh insights into how cultural narratives can be bridged across languages and geographies.

To conclude the residency, Billy co-led a hybrid reading group session alongside Naima, which brought together Art and Culture Study Group members, G.A.S. residents, alumni, and key industry stakeholders. Together, they explored early writings on restitution, viewed through the lens of FESTAC ’77 and FESMAN.

His residency was generously supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in collaboration with GIZ, the Goethe-Institut, and TheMuseumsLab Alumni Projects.

Finland | October 2023

Lagos Studio Archives is a joint multidisciplinary practice belonging to Karl Ohiri and Riikka Kassinen, focussed on unearthing the story of Abi Morocco Photos - a historic photographic studio. Their primary focus is on the studio's formabve decade, marked by remarkable black-and-white studio portraits and vernacular photography from the 1970s. Their practice comprises visual arts, photography, and research.

Spending time at G.A.S. provided space for the development of ongoing research into archival Lagosian studio photographers and the local community they serve with a particular focus on Abi Morocco Photos. Their residency also allowed crucial time to develop work for their Autograph exhibition titled Abi Morrocco Photos: Spirit of Lagos. To conclude their residency Karl Ohiri hosted No One Knows Tomorrow: Archiving for The Future at G.A.S. Lagos in collaboratio with Lagos based journalist and archivist, Fu’ad Lawal of Archivi.ng.

Their residency was generously supported by Autograph.

Zimbabwe | October - November 2023

Gareth Nyandoro is a renowned Zimbabwean artist passionate about exploring urban tapestry and human interactions. His creative practice delves into the vibrant landscapes of cities and their inhabitants whilst leveraging on his prior expertise in trade, commerce, and marketplace dynamics to create unique artistic expressions, merging abstraction with the intricate details of human figures.

During his residency, Gareth immersed himself in Lagos' bustling urban spaces and the serene landscapes at the G.A.S Farm House, Ijebu. Inspired by the similarities between Lagos and his hometown, Harare, Gareth explored sustainable food practices, a theme deeply intertwined with his artistic endeavours. To conclude his residency, he performed a new work titled In My Garden at G.A.S. Lagos and his work was featured in the 2023 edition of ART X Lagos.

Gareth’s Residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

USA | November - December 2023

TK Smith a distinguished curator of African diasporic art, writer, and cultural historian on a mission to foster meaningful exchanges to shape a contemporary art narrative across borders.

During his residency, TK fostered collaborations, and acted as a bridge between communities, to share his expertise through a curator’s lunch hosted at G.A.S. Lagos, studio visits, and critical discussions. He was eager to draw inspiration from Lagos' artistic landscape whilst exploring its history, craft traditions, and contemporary expressions. Following his stay at G.A.S. Foundation, TK pursued his ambition  to further his role as a curator of African diasporic art, embracing the cultural exchange between the USA and Nigeria.

TK’s residency was generously supported by Barnes Foundation.

Scotland | November - December 2023

Alberta Whittle is an acclaimed Barbadian-Scottish artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, performance, film, and installation. Her practice explores the historical legacies of the Transatlantic slave trade and the UK’s role in the Empire, as well as the violence of colonialism and racism that continue to permeate society today.

G.A.S. Foundation’s focus on international cultural exchange provided Alberta a long-awaited opportunity to research, experiment, share, and develop ideas through a fresh lens. Her time in Nigeria was spent researching, meeting, and getting to know the practices of other artists and creative thinkers.

In March 2024 Alberta presented the work created during the residency at Regen Projects in LA (USA). Titled Learning a New Punctuation for Hope in Times of Disaster, Alberta’s exhibition at Regen Projects exemplified her interdisciplinary approach to cultivating community and care as an antidote to catastrophes, from ecological collapse to the legacy of anti-Blackness.

Alberta’s residency was funded by a successful Big Give crowdfunding campaign that was undertaken by the Yinka Shonibare Foundation in December 2022.

UK | November - December 2023

Elsa James is a British African-Caribbean conceptual artist and activist living in Essex, England, since 1999. Her artistic practice is rooted in contemporary Black activism and constantly questions the visibility and belonging that centres Blackness as a methodology for liberation. Through an interdisciplinary, collaborative and research-based practice, she works across live performance, film, prints, spoken word, neon, and sound.

She used her residency at G.A.S. Foundation to confront different facets of her African heritage and address the profoundness of histories fractured by the transatlantic slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries. Through introspection and forging connections, Elsa hopes to create a fresh body of work inspired by her discoveries. To conclude her residency she hosted Reflections, a film screening and residency retrospective at G.A.S. Lagos.

Elsa’s residency was self-funded through the Arts Council DYCP fund.

Sweden | January 2024

Eric Oetterli is a graduate of Retail Management from the Stockholm School of Economics, with a strong passion for personal finance, financial inclusion, corporate finance, and global economics. Notably, Eric won the Swedish National Championship in Economics in 2022, and he has acquired practical experience within various financial institutions across Sweden.

During his residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Eric partnered with fellow graduate Victor Svensson to investigate the rapidly expanding adoption of cryptocurrency in Nigeria. Their research focused on exploring how cryptocurrency influences retail, drives economic growth, and fosters financial inclusion within the Nigerian context. Throughout their residency, they conducted in-depth interviews with local retailers and collaborated with a consultancy firm to circulate a survey that attracted over 800 responses, providing valuable insights into the country's evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

On 26th January 2024, Eric and Victor hosted a significant event highlighting the intersection of art and blockchain technology. The evening featured a panel discussion that brought together Nigerian artists and practitioners who are actively exploring blockchain in their work. The event explored how blockchain can be leveraged to create new opportunities in artistic practices within Nigeria’s creative ecosystem.

Eric’s residency was supported by the Yinka Shonibare Thesis Scholarship, an award introduced in 2023 in collaboration with Art Initiative, Misum, the Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets, and the Stockholm School of Economics.

Sweden | January 2024

Victor Svensson, from Linköping, Sweden, is a graduate of Retail Management from the Stockholm School of Economics, with a strong passion for financial inclusion. His professional experience spans both start-ups and established financial institutions, all while pursuing his studies. During his residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Victor collaborated with his Bachelor’s thesis partner, Eric Oetterli, to delve into the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency adoption in Nigeria.

Their research centred on understanding the impact of cryptocurrency on retail, economic growth, and financial inclusion in the country. They conducted a series of in-depth interviews with local retailers and worked closely with a consultancy firm to design and distribute a survey, which garnered over 800 responses. These findings offered significant insights into the nuances of cryptocurrency adoption across Nigeria.

On 26th January, Victor and Eric hosted an event focused on the intersection of art and blockchain technology. The evening featured a panel of artists and practitioners from Nigeria’s creative sector who are actively engaged with blockchain. Together, they discussed the opportunities blockchain presents for artistic practices, exploring how it can be leveraged within the local ecosystem.

Victor was a recipient of the Yinka Shonibare Thesis Scholarship initiated in 2023 in partnership with Art Initiative, Misum, Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets, and Stockholm School of Economics.

South Africa | January - February 2024

Nolan Oswald Dennis is a para-disciplinary artist whose work interrogates "a black consciousness of space"—the material and metaphysical conditions of decolonisation. By questioning historical narratives of space and time, Nolan's practice favours system-specific interventions over site-specific ones. They hold a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and a Master's degree in Art, Culture, and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Nolan was the first returning resident at G.A.S., using this concentrated time in Lagos to prepare for the upcoming Lagos Biennial. The residency was pivotal for refining the details of the Traces of Ecstasy pavilion, which they designed to feature newly commissioned works by a collective of artists, including former G.A.S. residents Evan Ifekoya and Raymond Pinto. Nolan also presented the pavilion's research and conceptual framework at the Traces of Ecstasy Symposium, part of the Biennial's offsite programme.

In addition to their Lagos-based activities, Nolan made a field trip to Ibadan to visit the New Culture Studio and the Dominican Chapel. Their research during this period delved into the legacy of the Mbari Artists and Writers Club and other influential movements that shaped Nigeria's modernist art era.

USA | February 2024

Raymond Pinto is a multidisciplinary performance artist whose work is deeply rooted in the African diaspora, drawing from both queer and Black archives. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Raymond graduated from the Juilliard School in 2013, later earning a master's degree in Performance Studies from New York University. His career has seen collaborations with prestigious dance companies and choreographers, including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Gauthier Dance, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Bill T. Jones, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Shikeith, Kevin Beasley, and Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion.

Raymond was the second artist to return to G.A.S. for a follow-up residency. This return allowed him to deepen his knowledge of Yoruba cultural traditions while broadening his artistic practice through explorations into new mediums, including printmaking, and a focus on wildlife conservation. His research into conservation culminated in a panel discussion with Chidi Mogbo, founder of the Green Fingers Foundation, held at G.A.S. Lagos. The event sparked dialogue on topics like iconography, ecology, sustainability, and wildlife conservation, bridging the worlds of ecological practice and movement-based art. Drawing from African material culture, it offered the audience a fresh perspective on how embodied emotions and ecology intersect in both conservation efforts and performance.

Raymond’s residency also featured a performance at the Lagos Biennial, where he debuted Diffractions, a collaborative roving piece staged within the Traces of Ecstasy pavilion. The performance was created in collaboration with sound artists Ayomide Kalejaiye (SAROSAYÉ) and Xavier Emmanuel, weaving together movement and sound to reflect on themes of history, spirituality, and resilience.

Switzerland & Italy | February - March 2024

Rafael Kouto is a multidisciplinary practitioner working at the intersection of fashion, design, research, and materiality. His residency at G.A.S. allowed him to collaborate closely with local artisans and engage deeply with traditional textile techniques such as embroidery, dyeing, and weaving. Rafael’s exploration of circular fashion methodologies built on groundwork established during a previous residency in Ghana, further developing his commitment to sustainable fashion practices.

His residency concluded with a series of circular fashion workshops, the first of which took place off-site in Bariga, a community known for its proximity to landfills that provide residents with recycling-based income. Collaborating with Peter D. Abayomi of the Eran Jije Project—a community initiative that merges music, dance, and environmental activism—Rafael led a workshop with 15 young participants. The session focused on teaching embroidery, applique, and weaving techniques, encouraging the experimental use of waste materials alongside pre-printed textiles and banners. This initiative aimed to highlight the importance of recycling and creative reuse within fashion, bringing sustainable practices directly to the community.

The workshop was later repeated at G.A.S. Lagos, where local fashion, textiles, and crafts practitioners were invited to learn and exchange ideas. Through these workshops, Rafael not only shared his expertise but also fostered conversations around sustainability and circular fashion, linking global discourses with local craftsmanship.

During his residency, Rafael commissioned Circular Heroes, a photo story project that was selected for the Photo Vogue Festival 2025 hosted in Milan, Italy.

Rafael’s residency was generously supported by the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia.

UK | March - April 2024

Remi Kuforiji is an architect, spatial practitioner and researcher based in London. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2021, he has continued researching the intersections between the politics of race, mapping, and performance.

Remi spent his residency conducting field trips to Ibadan and Ile Ife and began working on a new strand of research into the history, cultural significance, and preservation of Afro-Brazilian buildings on Lagos Island. This culminated in Playful Preservation, a workshop and discursive symposium centred around discussing alternative realities and approaches to preservation through collaging, drawing, and experimenting using archival and current photographs of Afro-Brazilian architecture in Lagos. Participants were also invited to play a prototype of Anti-Monopoly: Brazilian Quarters - a board game devised by Remi Kuforiji players win by preserving the most Afro-Brazilian buildings in Lagos Island. 

In July 2024 Remi presented his residency research at A Gathering on Art and Land, a day centring art and design-led approaches to planting, farming, seeding, gardening and burying hosted by Serpentine Gallery, London as part of their Infinite Ecologies Marathon programme.

Remi’s residency was supported through a partnership with RCA BLK (Royal College of Art Association of Black Students, Alumni & Friends).

UK | April 2024

Graeme Spencer Smith is an artist and draughtsman of Jamaican-British descent, born in Treaty 1 Canadian Territory. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, his work delves into the realms of craft as fugitive and subjugated knowledge, often exploring processes, transposition, and spatial poetics. Graeme’s primary mediums include ceramics and glass, through which he examines materiality and cultural narratives.

During his residency at G.A.S., Graeme focused on the rich tradition of Nigerian glass beads, drawing inspiration from their historical significance, intricate patterns, vibrant colours, and the mythical stories embedded within their craftsmanship. His research specifically centred on the Bida-Masagá glass bead-making tradition, a unique craft native to Bida in Niger State. Collaborating with local artisans, Graeme was able to create new works using locally sourced glass, integrating traditional techniques into his contemporary practice.

To conclude his residency, Graeme hosted African Glass Futures, a talk and presentation focused on the future of glass-making in Africa. The event not only highlighted his expertise as a glass sculptor and ceramicist but also offered a rare glimpse into the world of traditional Nigerian glass-making techniques. Guests had the chance to view and interact with a curated collection of glass pieces made by Masagá glassmakers from Bida, Niger State, which were generously loaned by Lesley Lababidi, Ambassador of Nupe Cultural Heritage.

In July 2024, Graeme presented his residency research at A Gathering on Art and Land a day centring art and design-led approaches to planting, farming, seeding, gardening and burying hosted by Serpentine Gallery as part of their Infinite Ecologies Marathon programme.

Graeme’s residency was supported through a partnership with RCA BLK (Royal College of Art Association of Black Students, Alumni & Friends).

Nigeria | April - May 2024

Amanda Iheme is an architectural photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria, whose work centres on the documentation and preservation of Nigeria's architectural heritage. Her practice celebrates the rich design, history, and cultural narratives embedded in the country's structures. Amanda was awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award in 2023, enabling her to undertake a residency focused on the study and research of southwestern vernacular and contemporary architecture, as well as the movement of Tropical Modernism in Nigeria.

Throughout her residency, Amanda engaged deeply with the architectural landscape, conducting interviews with a wide range of stakeholders including architects, architecture students, engineering and construction companies, landlords, agents, and tenants. This research provided her with critical insights into the evolving trends and challenges facing Nigeria's architectural industry.

Amanda also hosted several events as part of her residency. These included a library research workshop aimed at enhancing research skills within the architecture community, a photography showcase that spotlighted local talent and their interpretations of Nigeria’s built environment, and a final residency presentation at G.A.S. Lagos, where she shared her findings and experiences. Her residency not only explored the architectural heritage of Nigeria but also fostered dialogue around its contemporary and future design practices.

Amanda's residency and this edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award was generously supported by Still Earth Holdings and our Residency Patrons.

Uganda | April - June 2024

Katesi Jacqueline Kalange, known as “The Kalange,” is a visual artist based in Kampala, Uganda. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Art and Industrial Design from Kyambogo University. Her work spans a diverse range of media, integrating weaving and welding techniques to create often site specific sculptural, conceptual artworks.

During her residency, Katesi engaged with communities and artists focused on upcycling, with a particular emphasis on single-use plastics and second-hand clothing. She organised cleaning drives in Bariga in collaboration with the Eran Jije Project and worked alongside local artists such as Adeoti Afeez, Henry Unuigboje, and Mr Ato Arinze, along with his apprentices. Together, they developed a series of tile samples crafted from non-biodegradable materials, including discarded denim, sawdust, crushed fired clay, and acrylic gel.

Katesi went on to establish partnerships with Wecyclers and BASF West Africa to explore mass production techniques for these tile prototypes. As the culmination of her residency, she held two presentations—one at G.A.S. Lagos and the other in Bariga—sharing her research and insights with the local community.

Katesi's residency was generously supported by Tilga Art Fund.

Canada | May 2024

Dawit L. Petros is a visual artist, researcher, and educator whose work is shaped by an exploration of global modernisms, diaspora theories, and postcolonial studies. For over a decade, his practice has critically re-examined the intersections of colonialism and modernity.

During his recent residency, Dawit focused on producing new works across both photographic and moving image mediums, collaborating closely with the dancers of Lagos-based Q-Dance Studio. His research included creating images, collecting sound, and gathering objects such as maps and documents.

As part of his residency, Dawit led a Professional Practice as Research workshop with members of Q-Dance Studio, fostering a space for artistic exchange. This was followed by Ekphrasis, an immersive pop-up cinema event at Tiwani Lagos, where Dawit and the Q-Dance Studio dancers explored embodied knowledge, movement, sound-based artistic practices, and experimental cinema, culminating in a public discussion.

Dawit's residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

USA | June - July 2024

Neil Grasty is an emerging Africanist and curator with a focus on African and African diasporic art. At the time of his residency, he was a senior at Morehouse College majoring in Art History with a minor in French. His interests include Sub-Saharan African art ecosystems and the role of artist-founded spaces in local communities. 

In 2024, G.A.S. Foundation partnered with Spelman College and the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective (AUC Collective) to facilitate internships for three of its students through the G.A.S. Annotations programme. Neil, alongside Amaya Loubeau and Robyn Simpson, was selected for this internship, which focused on major African cultural festivals as historic events and repositories of postcolonial pan-African encounters. The internship ran in collaboration with the G.A.S. Annotations Research Associate Programme, aimed at supporting Lagos-based practitioners and strengthening local capacity.

During the residency, the group visited institutions such as The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), and the National Museum. They were mentored by Archival Consciousness and project curators Naima Hassan and Maryam Kazeem. The programme concluded with two events that acted as a vehicle for both uncovering their findings and creating a space for discursive exchange and collaborative learning.

USA | June - July 2024

At the time of her residency, Robyn Simpson was a third-year student at Spelman College, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Art History with a minor in Curatorial studies. She is an Education Fellow at the Museum of African Diaspora and a recipient of the Alice L. Walton Foundation Art History Scholarship.

In 2024, G.A.S. Foundation partnered with Spelman College and the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective (AUC Collective) to facilitate internships for three of its students through the G.A.S. Annotations programme. Robyn, alongside Neil Grasty and Amaya Loubeau, was selected for this internship, which focused on major African cultural festivals as historic events and repositories of postcolonial pan-African encounters. The internship ran in collaboration with the G.A.S. Annotations Research Associate Programme, aimed at supporting Lagos-based practitioners and strengthening local capacity.

During the residency, the group visited institutions such as The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), and the National Museum. They were mentored by Archival Consciousness and project curators Naima Hassan and Maryam Kazeem. The programme concluded with two events that acted as a vehicle for both uncovering their findings and creating a space for discursive exchange and collaborative learning.

USA | June - July 2024

Amaya Loubeau is an aspiring visual artist and curator. At the time of her residency, she was a rising Junior Art History major and a Documentary Filmmaking and Theater and Performance double minor attending Spelman College. She is an Ethel Gillbi Waddell Honors Program Scholar and an Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society member. Engaged in civic leadership, she serves as a Bonner Scholar, committed to public service within her community. 

In 2024, G.A.S. Foundation partnered with Spelman College and the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective (AUC Collective) to facilitate internships for three of its students through the G.A.S. Annotations programme. Amaya, alongside Neil Grasty and Robyn Simpson, was selected for this internship, which focused on major African cultural festivals as historic events and repositories of postcolonial pan-African encounters. The internship ran in collaboration with the G.A.S. Annotations Research Associate Programme, aimed at supporting Lagos-based practitioners and strengthening local capacity.

During the residency, the group visited institutions such as The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), and the National Museum. They were mentored by Archival Consciousness and project curators Naima Hassan and Maryam Kazeem. The programme concluded with two events that acted as a vehicle for both uncovering their findings and creating a space for discursive exchange and collaborative learning.

Nigeria | June - July 2024

Adeyosola Adeniran is a curator based in Lagos whose practice concerns itself with unveiling personal narratives and the liminailities of the self. She has previously worked on projects such as the Lagos Photo Festival and Table of Hope and participated in a residency with RMB Latitudes CuratorLab.

Adeyosola was selected for the Annotations Research Associates Programme following an open call alongside curator Ufuoma Ogbemudje, and independent archivist, Osayame Emokpae-Ozoro. The programme, designed to explore African art festivals, such as FESMAN, Panafest, Zaire 74, and FESTAC’77,  falls under the wider scope of G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive’s Re:assemblages project. The Annotations Research Associates Programme ran parallel to G.A.S. Foundation’s archival practice internships supported by Spelman College and AUC (Atlanta University Center) Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective.

During the residency, the group visited institutions such as The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), and the National Museum. They were mentored by Archival Consciousness and project curators Naima Hassan and Maryam Kazeem. The programme concluded with two events that acted as a vehicle for both uncovering their findings and creating a space for discursive exchange and collaborative learning.

The Annotations Research Associates Programme was generously supported by Femi Akinsanya.

Nigeria | June - July 2024

Ufuoma Ogbemudje is a video artist and curator based in Lagos, Nigeria. He holds a BA in Film/Video from the University of Toledo, with a minor in Art History. His curatorial work includes exhibitions with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, the Toledo Museum of Art, and SMO Contemporary Art, focusing on Southern African American and Nigerian artists. In his video art practice, Ufuoma explores experimental, performance-based works, often utilising limited space and mobile device cameras to push creative boundaries.

Ufuoma was selected for the Annotations Research Associates Programme following an open call alongside curator Adeyosola Adeniran, and independent archivist, Osayame Emokpae-Ozoro. The programme, designed to explore African art festivals, such as FESMAN, Panafest, Zaire 74, and FESTAC’77,  falls under the wider scope of G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive’s Re:assemblages project. The Annotations Research Associates Programme ran parallel to G.A.S. Foundation’s archival practice internships supported by Spelman College and AUC (Atlanta University Center) Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective.

During the residency, the group visited institutions such as The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), and the National Museum. They were mentored by Archival Consciousness and project curators Naima Hassan and Maryam Kazeem. The programme concluded with two events that acted as a vehicle for both uncovering their findings and creating a space for discursive exchange and collaborative learning.

The Annotations Research Associates Programme was generously supported by Femi Akinsanya.

Nigeria | June - July 2024

Osayame Emokpae-Ozoro is an archivist based in Lagos, Nigeria. She co-founded the Emokpae Archive with Ese Osamede in 2020, a project dedicated to preserving the legacy of Chief Erhabor Ogevia Emokpae (OON). Her archival practice is driven by a commitment to cultural heritage management, with a focus on developing approaches that address the unique needs of African heritage resources.

Osayame was selected for the Annotations Research Associates Programme following an open call alongside curators Adeyosola Adeniran, and Ufuoma Ogbemudje. The programme, designed to explore African art festivals, such as FESMAN, Panafest, Zaire 74, and FESTAC’77,  falls under the wider scope of G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive’s Re:assemblages project. The Annotations Research Associates Programme ran parallel to G.A.S. Foundation’s archival practice internships supported by Spelman College and AUC (Atlanta University Center) Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective.

During the residency, the group visited institutions such as The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), and the National Museum. They were mentored by Archival Consciousness and project curators Naima Hassan and Maryam Kazeem. The programme concluded with two events that acted as a vehicle for both uncovering their findings and creating a space for discursive exchange and collaborative learning.

The Annotations Research Associates Programme was generously supported by Femi Akinsanya.

South Africa | August 2024

Phokeng Setai is an interdisciplinary cultural practitioner working at the nexus of curatorial practice and artistic research. His academic focus centres on contemporary African art and emerging modes of cultural production, while his curatorial work, informed by his background in the social sciences, embraces a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary approaches. Following his doctoral research on contemporary African curatorial strategies and pedagogy, Phokeng has shifted his attention to the intersection of contemporary art, urban studies, and architectural practice.

During his residency, Phokeng Setai immersed himself in Lagos' creative and cultural ecosystem, focusing on architecture and scaffolding as speculative sites for democratic exhibitions. He conducted field trips within Lagos and to Ibadan, establishing connections that he aims to develop into a curatorial research project.

At the conclusion of his residency, Phokeng hosted Scaffolding Futures, an evening of discussions with local cultural stakeholders. Peter D. Abayomi spoke about site-specific art and performance, integrating natural materials and music in public spaces, while Femi Adebajo (Mokuti) shared insights on repurposing scaffolding into stages for urban performance art.

Phokeng's residency was generously supported by A4 Arts Foundation.

UK | August - September 2024

Ana Ogunsanya is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and educator whose practice explores the intersection of her Nigerian heritage, British culture, and diasporic identity. Trained in Fashion Design at Central St. Martins and the Royal College of Art, Ana works across various mediums, blending representation with abstraction to express her personal narrative. Her practice navigates the complexities of identity, heritage, and belonging, while honouring her roots and contributing to a broader dialogue on cultural representation.

During her residency, Ana conducted field research on the cultural significance of traditional textiles, using them as a bridge between her two cultural backgrounds. This exploration merged traditional craftsmanship with contemporary expression. Notably, she undertook field trips to Abeokuta, visiting adire production workshops in the city to deepen her research.

Ana concluded her residency with In Pieces, a mind-mapping and collage workshop that encouraged participants to explore their personal histories and cultures through art-making. 

Her residency was self-funded through the Arts Council DYCP fund.

Netherlands | August - September 2024

Alexandra Martens Serrano is a post-disciplinary artist and researcher based in Amsterdam. Her work blends analogue and digital mediums—such as sculptures, drawings, texts, and sounds—to create ecosystems within hybrid cosmologies. She explores the convergence of techno-ecologies and their potential to reshape the world, with each component of her practice functioning as an active force within non-linear constellations.

During her residency, Alexandra’s research centered on three pillars: field research, learning and collaboration, and artistic exploration and reflection. She delved into the cultural and ecological landscapes of Lagos and Ijebu, engaging with local communities, scholars, and artists to foster a dynamic exchange of perspectives. By documenting her findings through diverse media, Alexandra connected her Nigerian experiences with the evolving discourse of quantum technologies, bridging art, science, and culture.

As part of her residency, she hosted After the Future, an artist talk where she shared her approach to intersecting the fields of art, science, and quantum technologies. It was followed by a lively panel discussion with Ala Praxis, Timi Oludare and Ìfẹ́, where they explored the speed of the future and the role of technology in art-science practice.. The session concluded with a collaborative drawing exercise inspired by Cadavre Exquis. 

Her residency was generously supported by Studio Quantum, an international events and artist-in-residence programme led by  the Goethe-Institut, exploring emerging quantum technologies through the lens of art

Zimbabwe | August - October 2024

Misheck Masamvu is a visual artist whose work examines the socio-political realities of post-independence Zimbabwe, shedding light on the impacts of economic policies that fuel political instability. His practice, spanning drawing, painting, and sculpture, raises profound questions about the state of ‘being’ and the preservation of dignity.  At Atelier Delta and Kunste Akademie in Munich where he studied, Misheck transitioned from realist techniques to an expressionist style characterized by bold, graphic brushstrokes. Over the years, his working process has developed a nomadic structure, where his paintings adapt and transform as they move through various contexts. This flexibility allows them to absorb and reflect the socio-geographical influences of each environment they inhabit.

His residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu, created the perfect opportunity for Misheck to slow down, and immerse himself fully in the environment. This symbiosis between the artist and the landscape greatly influenced the physical gestures of MIsheck’s painting during this period which were developed for his forthcoming solo exhibition at Goodman Gallery. 

At the end of his six-week residency, Misheck hosted an intimate studio gathering at the G.A.S. Farm where he shared his creative process, showcasing paintings influenced by the natural surroundings and agricultural landscape. Misheck highlighted how subtle shifts in the environment influenced the layers of paint, with bursts of colour reflecting the movement of life around him. The artwork became a mirror of the smallest, most fleeting details, capturing fragmented impressions of the environment’s cycles. 

​​Misheck's residency was generously supported by Goodman Gallery.

Kenya | September - November 2024

Shabu Mwangi is a Nairobi-based multidisciplinary painter and sculptor whose practice focuses on the effects of structural and historical violence, and forms of marginalization on individual and collective psyches. Living and working in Mukuru, an informal settlement in Nairobi where he established the Wajukuu Art Project in 2004, Shabu’s mixed media compositions are powerful expressions of societal and cultural fissures. His most recent work traces an ongoing personal journey of striving to understand the ever-changing balance between the driving forces of love and pain. 

Shabu was the recipient of the Access ART X Diaspora Prize, designed to support artists living on the continent in advancing their careers globally. During his residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Shabu engaged with local communities, drawing inspiration to create works exploring themes of fortune, power, and their impact on social structures across the continent. His residency culminated in a presentation at the 2024 edition of ART X Lagos.

To conclude his residency, Shabu hosted My Journey in Art, an artist talk and drawing workshop where he reflected on his artistic evolution, creative process, and commitment to art as a catalyst for social change. Participants explored themes of identity, belonging, and aspirations, contributing drawings to a communal board that visualized their shared stories and visions for the future. The event celebrated Shabu’s achievements while fostering meaningful dialogue and collective creativity.

The ART X Prize is sponsored by Access Corporation, the parent company of Access Bank.

Uganda | October - November 2024

Liz Kobusinge is a community-taught artist who positions the textured possibilities of eco-printing and painting methods on hand-made bark cloth paper as a ritual of remembrance, layering paper, dyes, ink and video to mimic how our skin holds and disperses memory. In her practice, which spans printmaking, installation, film, textiles, and ecology, Liz demonstrates a commitment to selfhood, autonomy, and the preservation of traditional art-making practices. Her work envisions a future where both the earth and communities are nurtured to thrive, drawing on the rich heritage of eco-printing and bark cloth traditions.

Liz was awarded her residency as part of the  Annotations Programme - a six-month project that explored major African cultural festivals and their dual nature as historic events and repositories of postcolonial pan-African encounters. During her time at G.A.S. Lagos, Liz collaborated with fellow Annotations Programme resident Theophilus Imani to deepen her research into pan-African cultural festivals taking field trips to sited such as CBAAC and the New Culture Studio alongside exploring the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive. 

On November 6th 2024, Liz and Theo led Archival Choreographies, the second session of École du Festival, an innovative study day dedicated to reexamining the cultural, political, and artistic legacies of pan-African festivals. The session wove together archival research, performative storytelling, and audience interaction. Liz and Theophilus shared archival materials encountered throughout their residency, inviting participants to actively engage with these artefacts and their narratives. A live musical interlude from pianist Philip A. Balogun illuminated the often-overlooked histories of 20th-century pan-African festivals. 

Liz Kobusinge’s residency was supported by Outset Contemporary Art Fund

Italy | October - November 2024

Theophilus Imani is a visual researcher who examines the representation of the Black body in diasporic visual culture. His research, mainly declined in the Italian context, is articulated through the exploration of digital and physical archives, paying particular attention to the production of black vernacular images. Adopting a critical gaze, informed by his political identity as a diasporic subject, he proposes new ways of reading known and lesser-known images through the creation of visual rhymes and dialogues between image and text.

Theo was awarded his residency as part of the Annotations Programme - a six-month project that explored major African cultural festivals and their dual nature as historic events and repositories of postcolonial pan-African encounters. During his time in Lagos, Theo worked closely with fellow resident Liz Kobusinge, using the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive as key resources for his research. He focussed on conducting thorough archival research, specifically exploring the cultural and social contexts of FESTAC '77, a major international festival held in Lagos in 1977. By engaging with both the past and present, he expanded his critical perspective and created new dialogues that will resonate in his future artistic discourse.

On November 6th 2024, Liz and Theo led Archival Choreographies, the second session of École du Festival, an innovative study day dedicated to reexamining the cultural, political, and artistic legacies of pan-African festivals. The session wove together archival research, performative storytelling, and audience interaction. Liz and Theophilus shared archival materials encountered throughout their residency, inviting participants to actively engage with these artefacts and their narratives. A live musical interlude from pianist Philip A. Balogun illuminated the often-overlooked histories of 20th-century pan-African festivals.

Theophilus Imani’s residency was supported by Outset Contemporary Art Fund

Nigeria | October - November 2024

Kosisochukwu Nnebe is a Nigerian-Canadian conceptual artist and writer. Working across installation, lens-based media, and sculpture, Kosi engages with topics ranging from the politics of Black visibility, embodiment, and spatiality to the use of foodways and language as counter-archives of colonial histories. 

In 2023, Kosi was awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award, enabling her to embark on a seven-week residency at the G.A.S. Farm House the following year. Her research initially focused on cassava's role in Nigerian culture, particularly its influence on cuisine and textiles. Delving into Afro-Caribbean crops as a counter-archive of colonial histories, she explored their cultural connections to Yoruba Adire textiles and Igbo Uli art.

During her residency, she pivoted towards further developing existing experiments with chlorophyll printing on banana leaves, sourcing materials directly from the farm and frequently collaborating with farm workers, who became the subjects of her portrait-based works. Some of these outputs were showcased during the 2024 edition of G.A.S. Foundation’s annual Lagos Art Tour before being gifted to the subjects. She plans to further investigate preservation technologies for these prints beyond her residency.

The residency culminated with In Dialogue, a virtual conversation between Kosi and the acclaimed Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama. Together, the artists explored their art practices alongside the social dynamics and the impacts that drive them. The conversation delved into their focus on materiality—jute for Mahama and food for Nnebe—in uncovering colonial histories, as well as their use of space to create community-centric art experiences. 

Kosikochukwu’s residency and this edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award were generously supported by Still Earth Holdings and our Residency Patrons.

Nigeria | October - November 2024

Ofem Ubi is a Nigerian poet and artist exploring the poetic through visual forms. Drawing prompts from personal experiences, his work engages with memory and its manifestations beyond the page. Ofem was among the inaugural recipients of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award in 2022. His project, The Last Time I Called, explored themes of grief and memory, culminating in the publication of his first poetry pamphlet and an exhibition at G.A.S. Lagos in September of the same year. This inquiry continued with Back on Home Soil, a sequel that scored an exhibition and film screening at the Fringe of Colour Film Festival in Edinburgh in 2023. Ofem is a 2024 Prince Claus Seed Award recipient. He was awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award in 2024, facilitating his return for an eight-week residency to explore new creative possibilities at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu.

During his residency, Ofem concentrated on evolving his ongoing project, White Teeth. The farm’s tranquil setting provided an ideal space for focused reading, research, and creative development. He gathered materials and references, using the residency to refine the thematic structure of his work while exploring new approaches to its content, design, and presentation.

At the end of his residency, Ofem co-led Functions of Humor, a talk and writing workshop with Nigerian-British artist, filmmaker, photographer, and poet Joladé Olusanya. The session explored humor as a transformative tool in creative practice and social critique. Through interactive writing exercises, participants examined humor’s role in fostering connection, resilience, and collective healing, while considering its potential to inspire fresh perspectives on social issues.

Ofem’s residency and this edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award were generously supported by Still Earth Holdings and our Residency Patrons.

UK | November - December 2024

Osei Bonsu is a British-Ghanaian curator and writer based in London and Paris. He is currently a curator of International Art at Tate Modern, where he is responsible for organising exhibitions, developing the museum’s collection and broadening the representation of artists from Africa and the African diaspora. Through his writing, Osei focuses on the relationship between art and issues of migration, race and identity in contemporary society. In 2020, he was named as one of Apollo Magazine’s ‘40 under 40’ leading African voices.

During his residency, Osei conducted vital research for the upcoming Nigerian Modernism exhibition, scheduled to open at Tate Modern in October 2025. The exhibition will trace the development of modern art in Nigeria, with a focus on the country's transition to independence from British colonial rule in 1960. Drawing on resources from the G.A.S. Library and engaging with artists, estates, archives, and institutions such as the Yemisi Shyllon Museum and MOWAA, Osei explored the enduring legacies of Nigerian modernism. His residency included site visits and field trips to key architectural and heritage landmarks and in-depth conversations with representatives of iconic modernist pioneers.

To conclude his residency, Osei led Building Artists’ Estates and Legacies, a focused discussion with representatives from the estates of Nigeria’s modernist pioneers, including Rufus Nwoko, Salma Uche-Okeke, Morayo Anthonio Grillo, and Ejiro Mudiaga Onobrakpeya. The presentations highlighted ongoing efforts to preserve and promote the legacies of these seminal artists, offering valuable insights into the challenges and strategies of cultural preservation.

Osei's residency was generously supported by Via Art Fund

USA | November  - December 2024 

Avery Youngblood is a video-artist and designer from Dallas, Texas. She has a background in linguistics and comparative studies in race and ethnicity from Stanford University (BA), and works alongside the moving image to explore themes of science fiction, myth, language, identity, and race. She is a Yale School of Art MFA graduate in Graphic Design where she collaborated across disciplines of sculpture, performance, filmmaking, and design. Her work is both metaphorical, sensorial and multi-dimensional, using techniques such as layering, collage, repetition, the moving image, audio, and the body to create a visual language that reflects the decentralized and interconnected nature of her thinking. 

Avery was the inaugural resident supported by the Yale School of Art, and used her six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos to investigate the intersection of technology and identity within Lagos’ post-colonial narratives. Focusing on mostly obsolete tools like camcorders and CRT TVs, she explored their cultural significance and their role in bridging past and present across social contexts. Her research was enriched by visits to cultural sites, galleries, and artist studios, which provided critical insights and context for her work.

At the end of her residency, Avery led Primitive Hypertext, an event combining a presentation, discussion, and a hands-on Riso-printing workshop. Drawing inspiration from Octavia E. Butler’s works, particularly her exploration of interconnected identity and memory in speculative narratives, participants examined the concept of “primitive hypertext.” Through collaborative storytelling and experimental print techniques, the event offered a platform to explore the intersections of creativity, technology, and collective narrative-making.

Avery's residency is generously supported by  Yale School of Art.

Nigeria | December 2024

Mobolaji Ogunrosoye is a Lagos-based visual artist whose work blends photography and collage to explore themes of identity, distortion, and the complexities of Nigerian and Black women’s experiences. Mobolaji pushes the limits of traditional collage techniques, revealing layered narratives of selfhood and societal influence. In her Portraits series, she creates multi-layered collages, using burning and cutting to expose hidden layers beneath the surface. Between 2022 and 2023, she expanded this work by incorporating coffee, further developing the series during a 5-week residency at The Noldor Residency in Accra, Ghana. She is currently exploring the use of transparent materials in her collage practice.

During her research residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Mobolaji focused on expanding her image archive and exploring distortion and layering techniques through resources at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive while also enabling her to expand her visual vocabulary for future collage projects

To conclude her residency, Mobolaji hosted a female-centered dinner and screening of Black Girl (1966), the French-Senegalese drama by Ousmane Sembène. Through the film, which addresses African women’s struggles and the intersections of race and gender, she facilitated a thought-provoking discussion on identity, colonialism, and the diaspora.

United Kingdom | January - February 2025

Bisila Noha is a London-based ceramicist, writer, and researcher whose practice challenges Western distinctions between art and craft while exploring themes of home, oneness, and lineage. Working across wheel-thrown ceramics and sculptural forms, she engages deeply with the histories and techniques of pottery communities, particularly those led by women. Through material, movement, and storytelling, Bisila traces forgotten narratives—offering a bridge between past and present.

Bisila completed a six-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, where she immersed herself in Nigeria’s rich ceramic traditions. She began in Lagos, engaging with local potters in the Ayobo community while researching Nigerian crafts in the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive. Midway through, she traveled to Ilorin and Osogbo, visiting Dada Pottery and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage site dedicated to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility.

For the final three weeks of her residency, Bisila relocated to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where she made regular visits to the Ìgànrán Pottery Community, deepening her understanding of their techniques and rituals. This period of sustained observation, collaboration, and practice laid the foundation for Ile Ọkàn – A Gathering at the House of the Soul, a sculptural installation and communal event inspired by Mbari houses—ceremonial clay structures built by the Igbo people as artistic and spiritual tributes to the Earth goddess, Ala. 

Her residency concluded with The Clay Women of Ìgànrán, a virtual presentation documenting her time with the women potters of Ìgànrán, a small town in Ogun State. Through video, photographs, and firsthand accounts, she captured their intricate process—from mining and processing clay to shaping, firing, and selling finished vessels. This research reinforced her ongoing commitment to documenting pottery communities and their histories, a journey she has been tracing across different regions since 2017.

Bisila's residency is generously supported by kó Art Space.

Switzerland | January - April 2025

Nathalie Eggenschwiler is a Swiss designer and founder of Cauchemar, an accessories label based in Zurich. With a background in fashion design and a commitment to sustainability, she merges modern craftsmanship with artisanal traditions, exploring new possibilities in textile innovation.

During her twelve-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Nathalie researched Nigerian textile traditions, engaging with artisans, traders, and designers to examine connections between Swiss and Nigerian craft. She travelled across Lagos, Osogbo, Ilorin, and Abuja, visiting cultural institutions, textile workshops, and markets to study material reuse and sustainable production methods. Her research focused on how local weavers integrate traditional knowledge into contemporary practices, with a particular interest in secondhand fabrics and discarded materials in Lagos' design landscape. These insights informed her ongoing exploration of circular fashion systems.

Her residency culminated in Weave Lab – Experimental Creation of Textiles, a hands-on workshop at G.A.S. Lagos with textile designer Khadija Dikko and architectural designer Omotoke Joseph. The session invited participants to experiment with weaving techniques, transforming discarded textiles into new creations—aligning with her interest in sustainability and material innovation.

Nathalie's residency was generously supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg.

Switzerland | January - February 2025

Eva-Maria Bertschy is a Swiss dramaturg, director, and playwright whose work explores the intersections of political theatre, material culture, and transnational collaboration. She is a co-founder of GROUP50:50, a collective investigating colonial and postcolonial trade routes through performance, music, and film. Her projects have been staged across Europe and Africa, addressing themes of migration, environmental justice, and economic exploitation.

During her two-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Eva-Maria focused on the trade history of African (Swiss) lace and its ties to Austria’s Vorarlberg region. Through engagements with traders, researchers, and artists, she explored the movement of textiles between West Africa and Europe, examining the role of the Union Trading Company and historic warehouses in Lagos. Her research also extended to local textile markets, cultural institutions, and artistic practices, tracing the impact of these commercial networks on material culture and identity.

To conclude her residency, she hosted Ecosystems by GROUP50:50, a film screening and discussion exploring the complexities of rainforest conservation in the Congo Basin. The short film, produced by Congolese filmmakers Joseph K. Kasau and Franck Moka, served as an entry point into ECOSYSTEM, a multimedia music theatre project developed with Indigenous communities in the region. Eva-Maria was joined by Nigerian journalist and cultural archivist Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo for a conversation on environmental activism, land rights, and the role of art in resistance. The event closed with a preview of ECOSYSTEM’s live performance, offering insight into its fusion of traditional music, ritual, and contemporary theatre.

Eva-Maria’s residency was generously supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg.

United Kingdom | January - April 2025

Jonn Gale is a London-based ethnobotanist whose research spans botanical collections, archival materials, and sensory-focused visual ethnography. Her practice embraces nonlinearity and multi-species livability, centring the agency of plants as historical actors capable of narrating alternative stories. As part of her AHRC/CHASE-funded PhD at Birkbeck, University of London, in collaboration with the Linnean Society, she investigates the overlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous naturalists to 18th and 19th-century botanical knowledge. Her work seeks to develop decolonial and relational approaches to archival research.

Jonn was the first PhD placement resident at G.A.S. Foundation. She began her twelve-week residency in Lagos, conducting research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, and visiting key institutions such as the Traditional Medicine Board and Yemkem International. These early engagements laid the groundwork for broader inquiries into how medicinal knowledge is preserved, transformed, and practised. She also connected with the local art community, visiting artists' studios and participating in virtual research development sessions for the African Arts Libraries (AAL) Lab with Naima Hassan, Associate Archivist and Curator at Yinka Shonibare Foundation.

Midway through her residency, she travelled to Ibadan to visit the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), expanding her understanding of agroecology and sustainable farming systems. Her research evolved through forest walks, meetings with local herbalists, and collaborative gardening at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where she spent the majority of her stay. In addition to her fieldwork, Jonn was invited to speak at TEDxLagos, where she shared insights into her practice and reflected on the role of ethnobotany in decolonising knowledge systems.

In her final weeks, Jonn led Understanding Plants - Botany and Herbarium Practice, a community workshop with students from St. John’s Primary School in Ikiṣẹ. Through hands-on activities in botany and herbarium-making, the students were encouraged to closely observe their environment, nurturing curiosity and a sense of environmental stewardship.

Her residency concluded with Spiral Margins/Ecotonal Memories, a residency presentation and workshop held at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ. Centred around a botanical garden that Jonn developed and cultivated at the Ecology Green Farm, the presentation wove together storytelling, field research, and community engagement. Drawing on the concept of ecotone, Jonn explored the convergence of scientific and Indigenous knowledge systems through the form of a living archive. The spiral-shaped garden, inspired by Malidoma Somé’s Of Water and the Spirit, featured medicinal plants labelled in both Yoruba and scientific names, many of which were sourced through community exchange. The event included a guided farm walk and communal seed-sowing session.

Jonn Gale's residency was supported by CHASE and G.A.S. Foundation.

Nigeria | February - March 2025

Ugo Ahiakwo is a Lagos-based sculptor and curator whose practice is defined by tactility, movement, and intuitive dialogue with materials. Drawing from fashion, design, and architecture, he transforms discarded objects into sculptural forms, examining their histories and reinterpreting their aesthetic and conceptual potential. His work extends beyond sculpture, incorporating elements of sound, performance, and spatial interventions.

During his six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Ugo engaged in a period of reflection and experimentation, refining his sculptural language while deepening his engagement with Lagos’ urban landscape. He conducted research in the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, visited the Yemisi Shyllon Museum, and collaborated with an automotive painter to explore industrial finishes for his sculptures. These investigations shaped his material explorations, influencing a new body of work that emerged from his time at G.A.S. Foundation.

The residency culminated in Indulgence Before Consequence, a solo exhibition showcasing his newly developed sculptural pieces. Spanning three days, the exhibition examined transformation, material agency, and the interplay between impulse and restraint. During this period, he collaborated with Bosh?, a lagos-based trumpeter to further expand the sensory dimensions of his installations, blending sound and sculpture to create an immersive experience.

Ugo’s residency was generously supported by the Tilga Art Prize.

United Kingdom | March - April 2025

Gaia Ozwyn is a London-based contemporary artist whose practice weaves together the tactile and visual contrast between concrete sculpture and painterly techniques to explore themes of loneliness and ‘othering’. Born in 1991 to a Caribbean-British family, Gaia’s multifaceted identity deeply informs her work, prompting a nuanced exploration of belonging and identity. Her practice challenges binary perceptions, creating spaces where solitude and connection coexist, and invites viewers into a contemplative dialogue between solidity and transience.

During her four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Gaia began developing a new series of paintings while immersing herself in Lagos' vibrant art and culture landscape. She visited several galleries and institutions, including the National Museum, John Randle Centre, Tiwani Contemporary, and the Yemisi Shyllon Museum. She also visited the Ayobo pottery community and travelled to the G.A.S. Farm House, where she spent several days experimenting with local clay-making techniques.

To mark the conclusion of her residency, Gaia convened the Young Artists’ Salon, a group critique session held at G.A.S. Lagos. The event created a platform for emerging artists to receive feedback and engage in dialogue around their practice. Four artists, Mariam Olubunmi Aliyu, Afolabi Atiye, Fikayo Adebajo and Charles Ola, were invited to present their work in person, discussing their chosen media, creative processes and the questions informing their practice. The session welcomed a small audience of local artists and concluded with an open Q&A, encouraging reflective conversation among all participants.

Gaia Ozwyn’s residency was generously supported by the Royal College of Art Association of Black Students, Alumni & Friends (RCA BLK).

Isreal | March - May 2025

Rachel Anyo is an Israel-based multidisciplinary artist and photographer whose work explores identity, femininity, and cultural heritage. Merging traditional Ethiopian folklore with contemporary digital techniques, she creates a distinctive visual language reinterpreting hand weaving through family photographs, digital collages, mandalas, and woven compositions. Beyond her studio practice, Rachel is committed to community-based art initiatives that aim to make contemporary art more accessible to underserved audiences. She seeks to amplify the voices of marginalized communities, particularly the Israeli-Ethiopian community, through collaborative projects, workshops, and exhibitions. Her focus on community engagement fosters social change and enriches discourse around cultural identity and representation.

During her eight-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Rachel expanded her ongoing exploration of memory, identity, and heritage. Her time enabled her to explore the city’s cultural and artistic landscape through visits to institutions such as the Yemisi Shyllon Museum, the National Museum, the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture, and CCA Lagos, as well as literary and archival spaces like Jazzhole and connections with G.A.S. alumnus Karl Ohiri of Lagos Studio Archives.

Her studio visits included discursive encounters with artists Kelani Abass, Amaize Ojeikere, Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, and independent fashion label Eki Kéré, offering insights into diverse material practices and reinforcing her interest in the archive as both form and methodology.

Her residency culminated in Retelling and Creating New Memories, a storytelling and collage workshop for children held in collaboration with The Children’s Art Gallery (TCAG). Drawing from her practice of weaving personal histories with archival imagery, Rachel guided participants through a hands-on session focused on memory, identity, and self-expression. Using personal photographs and found images, the children created collages that reflected their individual and collective narratives.

Rachel Anyo's residency was generously supported by Artis.

United Kingdom | April - May 2025

Joy Labinjo’s large-scale figurative paintings often depict intimate scenes of both historical and contemporary life, blending the real with the imagined. Drawing inspiration from personal and archival imagery, including family photographs, found images, and historical material, her work explores themes such as identity, political voice, power, blackness, race, history, community, and family, highlighting their role in contemporary experience. Her work presents fresh and arresting compositions of color, pattern, and motifs, key signatures of Joy’s artistic practice. At its core, her work is driven by a bold interest in storytelling and, ultimately, in the lives of people. Her aesthetic comprises an eclectic visual vocabulary and mixed painterly techniques, reflecting her experience of growing up Black, British, and Nigerian in the 1990s and early 2000s.

During her four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Joy focused on expanding her network and connecting with the local art community. She attended the Lisabi and Ogun Festivals and visited various artists’ studios and cultural institutions in Lagos, developing professional roots within the context of the local cultural landscape. These experiences were intended to inform and enrich her future work and artistic practice.

On April 30th, 2025, Joy and fellow resident Aisha Seriki led Unearthing the Archive, an evening of discussion on the role of archives in contemporary artistic practice. The session brought together artist and G.A.S. alumna Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, along with Amaize Ojeikere, a photographer, writer, and son of the late J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, to reflect on how archival materials shape and influence artistic expression. Aisha and Joy also presented works developed by G.A.S. Alumni Karl Ohiri and Rikka Kassinen as part of their ongoing collaborative project, Lagos Studio Archives, which preserves thousands of film negatives documenting everyday life in Lagos from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Additionally, the session featured a presentation of Nigerian artist Kelani Abass's series Casting History, which uses repurposed obsolete tools and vintage portrait photographs from his father’s publishing archives to reflect on memory, loss, and the persistence of the past. Through this session, Aisha and Joy facilitated a conversation that opened space for collective memory work, cultural discourse, and future-oriented reflections on artistic practice.

Joy Labinjo’s residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

United Kingdom | April - May 2025

Aisha Olamide Seriki is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist based in London, specializing in fine art photography and sculpture. She works from a canon of personal histories that splice contemporary realities. Her practice is holistic and embodied, subverting traditional photographic conventions through an experimental, multisensory, and conceptual visual language. Cosmological systems such as the Yoruba Spiritual Tradition inform her approach to documentation, communication, and creation. Through optics and trickery, she challenges the rigid imagination of self, creating space in the archive for a broader and more inclusive definition.

Throughout her four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Aisha expanded her ongoing research into archives and cultural memory through a series of site visits, studio encounters, and community-focused programs. She travelled across Lagos, Abeokuta, Osogbo, Ibadan, and Benin City, engaging with wood carvers, metal casters, artists, and cultural historians. She also attended the Lisabi and Ogun Festivals, visited artists' studios, and spent time at institutions and galleries, including the Yemisi Shyllon Museum, Tiwani Contemporary, and the National Museum.

In Osogbo and Benin, Aisha engaged directly with artisans, bringing her own wax and silicone moulds to cast new sculptural works while sourcing local beeswax and exploring both traditional and contemporary fabrication techniques. In Lagos, her interest in documenting movement and the body materialised through collaborative photographic experiments with Leap of Dance Academy, a ballet school founded by Daniel Ajala Owoseni. She visited their studio to capture rehearsal sessions and later arranged a more formal shoot in a professional setting.

On April 30th, 2025, Aisha and fellow resident Joy Labinjo led Unearthing the Archive, an evening of discussion on the role of archives in contemporary artistic practice. The session brought together artist and G.A.S. alumna Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, along with Amaize Ojeikere, a photographer, writer, and son of the late J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, to reflect on how archival materials shape and influence artistic expression. Aisha and Joy also presented works developed by G.A.S. Alumni Karl Ohiri and Rikka Kassinen as part of their ongoing collaborative project, Lagos Studio Archives, which preserves thousands of film negatives documenting everyday life in Lagos from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Additionally, the session featured a presentation of Nigerian artist Kelani Abass's series Casting History, which uses repurposed obsolete tools and vintage portrait photographs from his father’s publishing archives to reflect on memory, loss, and the persistence of the past. Through this session, Aisha and Joy facilitated a conversation that opened space for collective memory work, cultural discourse, and future-oriented reflections on artistic practice.

Aisha Seriki’s residency was generously supported by the Royal College of Art Association of Black Students, Alumni & Friends (RCA BLK).

Egypt |  May - June 2025

Shatha Afify is an Egyptian interdisciplinary artist, storyteller, poet, and thinker whose practice weaves together sound, performance, sculpture, and multimedia to explore the terrains of conflict, loss, and resistance. Her work delves into the ethical quandaries of adulthood and awareness, using sound as a storyteller and silence as a space for resilience. Shatha is deeply preoccupied with the complexities of existence, choosing positions, taking stands, and the enduring struggle for freedom and dignity, themes she first explored in her early works. Through her practice, she creates contemporary archives that reflect on her time, offering possibilities for reimagining the present and future.

During her six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Shatha expanded The Silenced Score, a speculative sound-based project investigating overlooked histories across North and West Africa. Originally rooted in the Egyptian-Libyan desert, the project grew through research into Nigeria’s sonic and cultural landscapes. She recorded ambient sound in Makoko and Lagos Port, met with artists, cultural workers, and archivists, and travelled to Osogbo and Kano to explore ritual, oral histories, and local sound traditions. Her residency also included visits to Jazzhole and the Goethe-Institut Lagos, where she engaged in dialogue around independent publishing and memory work.

In the final weeks of her residency, Shatha hosted Crafting for Tomorrow: Turn Your Writing into a Book at 16/16, a hands-on workshop that introduced participants to DIY bookmaking, guiding them through folding, binding, and designing books using blank paper, written texts, and RISO-printed covers. As part of the Ìmòra Arts Intensive, she also led a session on building professional portfolios, encouraging emerging artists to think critically about how they present their work.

Shatha’s residency concluded with an artists talk in collaboration with the Lagos Sound Collective, where she led an open conversation with registered members of the collective on sound, memory, and listening as a form of care.

Shatha Afify’s residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.

Nigeria | May - June 2025

Nengi Nelson is a Lagos-based freelance photographer and visual storyteller whose work explores identity, choice, vulnerability, and social acceptance. For her, identity becomes a means of introspection, a way to question “being” beyond social norms, particularly within African contexts. She investigates how individuals choose who they become, and the societal, cultural, and personal factors that shape that process. 

During her three-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Nengi deepened her ongoing series All the Places I Have Lived, which reflects on the meaning of home through the lens of reverse migration and transitional living. As part of her stay, she visited the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where the rural landscape offered a slower rhythm and a shift in perspective. She also expanded her engagement with Lagos’ urban landscape and creative community, meeting with fellow photographers Yagazie Emezi and Amanda Iheme to exchange ideas around visual storytelling, narrative form, and artistic vulnerability, dialogues that helped shape new directions in her practice.

Her residency culminated in Residency Open Studio, a presentation and walkthrough of three photography projects developed at different points in her artistic career. Personally guiding guests through each body of work, she offered insights into her creative process, the stories behind the images, and invited thoughtful dialogue. Motivated by a desire to connect with the local art community, the session created space for meaningful reflection and exchange around photography, memory, and identity

USA | June - July 2025

Nina Gilbert is a published illustrator, practicing artist and art historian beginning her final year at Spelman College. Currently serving as the first program committee member for the Southeastern Museums Conference, her interests lie with exploring the philanthropic side of the arts and bringing more afro-centric voices to its ecosystem. Nina has worked in multiple facets of the arts, from Auction Houses to Artist Endowed Foundations. Nina’s goal is to continue doing community based work within the arts while maintaining her practice as an artist.

In the second year of G.A.S. Foundation’s partnership with Spelman College and the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective (AUC Collective), Nina alongside Savannah Woodson was selected to participate in a work-based internship situated outside of the residency model. This initiative reflects G.A.S. Foundation’s continued commitment to supporting the next generation of arts professionals through hands-on learning embedded within the Foundation’s programmes and institutional operations.

During her eight-week internship, Nina supported the 2025 Re:assemblages Symposium, working closely with curator Naima Hassan, who mentored her through editorial work, field research, and production support for both the symposium and the Short Century Intensive. She also supported and participated in the Imora Arts Intensive, contributing to programme development, and event planning. As part of the programme, the interns visited key cultural institutions and sites including the National Museum Lagos, the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Nike Art Gallery, O’DA Art Gallery, Shyllon Museum, New Culture Studios, and the Ojude Oba Festival, gaining insight into the structures, histories, and contemporary dynamics of the Nigerian art ecosystem.

The internship concluded with a public presentation, during which the interns reflected on their experiences working with the G.A.S. team. They shared insights from their involvement in public programming and preparations for the Symposium, and spoke to how these engagements have shaped their curatorial thinking, artistic practice, and future trajectories as emerging arts professionals.

USA | June - July 2025

Savannah Woodson is a contemporary artist and Art History major from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She is currently a third year student at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and an award-winning visual artist who won the 2022 Congressional Art Competition, representing her territory. Savannah’s work primarily focuses on themes of Blackness, nature, and life, drawing inspiration from her vibrant Caribbean upbringing. She is deeply passionate about art, culture, and community, continuously merging her love for art and youth advocacy by engaging and inspiring children in her local community.

In the second year of G.A.S. Foundation’s partnership with Spelman College and the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective (AUC Collective), Savannah alongside Nina Gilbert was selected to participate in a work-based internship situated outside of the residency model. This initiative reflects G.A.S. Foundation’s continued commitment to supporting the next generation of arts professionals through hands-on learning embedded within the Foundation’s programmes and institutional operations.

During her eight-week internship, Savannah worked closely with the G.A.S. Lagos team, supporting the Imora Arts Intensive through communications, research, and on-site logistical support, including the installation of the Afterimages exhibition. She contributed to content development, participant support, and documentation, producing daily written recaps later compiled into a webpage article, alongside photographic documentation of programmes and facilitators. As part of the programme, the interns visited key cultural institutions and sites including the National Museum Lagos, the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Nike Art Gallery, O’DA Art Gallery, Shyllon Museum, New Culture Studios, and the Ojude Oba Festival, gaining insight into the structures, histories, and contemporary dynamics of the Nigerian art ecosystem.

The internship concluded with a public presentation, during which the interns reflected on their experiences working with the G.A.S. team. They shared insights from their involvement in public programming and preparations for the Symposium, and spoke to how these engagements have shaped their curatorial thinking, artistic practice, and future trajectories as emerging arts professionals.

Zimbabwe | June - July 2025

Dr. Tinashe Mushakavanhu is a Zimbabwe-born writer, scholar, and curator working across literature, archives, and visual culture. He is an incoming Assistant Professor of African & African American Studies at Harvard University and previously held a Junior Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford, where he convened symposia, curated exhibitions, and served as a judge for a major translation prize. His practice engages African literary cultures, radical publishing, and the politics of the archive. He has undertaken research and writing residencies across Africa, Europe, and the United States and is an alumnus of Independent Curators International (ICI).

Awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2025, Dr. Tinashe initiated The Faculty of Arts, a curatorial research project inspired by the imagined university in Dambudzo Marechera’s The Black Insider. As part of this inquiry, he developed Precision, a fictional magazine from Marechera’s literary universe that combines archival research, speculative writing, and editorial experimentation to blur fact and fiction and reopen intellectual histories.Throughout his residency, Tinashe engaged with Lagos’ cultural landscape through visits and exchanges with institutions and programmes including Black Orpheus Fellowship, Goethe-Institut Lagos, the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), John Randle Centre, 16/16 Printing Workshop, and research visits to Shomolu and Bariga.

Towards the end of his residency, he joined Monangambee curator Dara Omotosho in a public conversation during the Afterimages exhibition. Together, they reflected on the political and aesthetic implications of archival cinema, exploring how research-led and curatorial practices can challenge dominant film histories and open up new modes of collective remembering. The conversation concluded with an engaged exchange with the audience.

Tinashe's residency and this edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship award was generously supported by Deutsche Bank

USA | August - October 2025

Dr. Ietef Vita also known as DJ Cavem is a Grammy-nominated eco-hip-hop artist, educator, and vegan chef whose work bridges music, environmental activism, and ancestral foodways. Raised in Denver and rooted in Pan-African traditions, Ietef has spent over two decades using hip-hop as a tool for climate justice, youth empowerment, and wellness. His work includes multimedia albums, food justice curriculum, and international workshops that fuse beat-making with soil science, herbalism, and culinary arts. A certified permaculturist and raw food chef, Ietef’s performances often double as immersive learning experiences. Ietef currently serves as the Climate Futures & Legacies Manager at Artist As First Responder, a collective platform that utilizes exhibition, curatorial residencies, cofounder of “Prana to the people”, a community sound bath and yoga collective providing wellness for activists on the front line hosting events like “Revolutionary Rest” & public forums, and archives to center the work of artists whose essential creative practices heal communities and save lives.

During his residency at G.A.S., Ietef focused on connecting with the Lagos and ijebu community, as well as developed Beets & Roots: From Lagos to the Land, a multidisciplinary project weaving music, agriculture, and community engagement. The project included the creation of a new EP composed from field recordings of farm birds, tools, and wind moving through cassava fields, alongside photo and video documentation of farming practices, food traditions, and seed sovereignty. He spent his time interacting with local chefs, including Yinka Bernie, Chef Uzor, Chef Vladmiri, veggie victory and well trips to the National Theatre and Jazzhole.

Throughout the residency, Ietef engaged Lagos audiences through a series of public programmes. These included a listening party at RapJoint Lagos for Skywater, a two-part beat album (Year of the Dragon and Year of the Snake) that reimagines hip-hop as a vehicle for environmental awareness; a DJ set at Miliki, The Garden in collaboration with El Padrino; and a Pan-African artist talk with Nkeiruka “Nkei” Oruche at the University of Lagos.

Dr. Ietef Vita's residency was  generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Nigeria | August - October 2025

Olufela Omokeko is a Nigerian interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores sociocultural issues through performance, installation, photo-video art, and social practice. His work investigates themes such as psycho-social dynamics, mortality, food insecurity, violence, and ecological challenges, using conceptual and community-driven approaches. Notable projects include his solo exhibitions Masquerading Plastic (2019) and Ilarun (2019), and installations like Son of Pepper Seller. His recent project, Ayetoro: Field of Gold and Rivers of Black, supported by the Goethe-Institut, further underscores his commitment to combining social engagement with experimental artistic practice.

Olufela completed an eight-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, where he explored Yoruba agricultural identity and developed Àgbàlá Ọkọ́ – Hoe Courtyard as part of his ongoing Mobile Food Museum project which challenges the extinction of local food culture. While in Lagos, he conducted research in the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, and connected with traditional wood carvers. He then relocated to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, where he engaged with local farmers, observed traditional farming practices, and developed his sculptural work which involved the transformation of a ‘Hoe’ a key Yoruba agricultural tool, into an artistic element that honors and elevates farmers’ cultural presence. He also collaborated with Yoruba poet Aremo Gemini during this period, which informed his final project.

The residency culminated in Hoe Courtyard, a site-specific installation where farm tools, market imagery, and poetry were transformed into interactive sculptures. Spread throughout the Farm House, the immersive environment invited visitors to explore the intersections of sustenance, labor, and cultural memory, reflecting Olufela’s ongoing commitment to preserving and celebrating Nigerian foodways and agricultural knowledge.

United Kingdom | August - September 2025

Pelumi Odubanjo is a 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.

Pelumi completed a two-and-a-half-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, focused on engaging with Aguda communities in Nigeria, their descendants, and regional researchers. Her research combined archival work, oral histories, and site visits to trace cultural traditions that have survived transatlantic journeys. In pursuit of this, she visited key sites across Lagos, Badagry, Ibadan, and Abeokuta, including the Brazilian Quarter, National Archives Ibadan, Afro-Brazilian Cultural Centre, Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, CD Akran Palace, Vlekete Slave Market, the First Storey Building in Badagry, and the John Randle Museum. She also met with Oludamola Adebowale, founder of Asiiri Magazine founder whose insights and conversations helped inform the development of her final residency event.

The residency culminated in Picturing Return: Afro-Brazilian Archives in Nigeria, an evening that traced the histories, images, and narratives of the Aguda community and their enduring presence in Nigeria. Pelumi, alongside Oludamola Adebowale, explored the living archive of Afro-Brazilian cultural heritage, connecting historical documentation, oral histories, and contemporary practices to illuminate the ongoing dialogue between Brazil and Nigeria.

Pelumi’s residency was generously supported through funding from the James McCune Smith Scholarship at the University of Glasgow.

Germany | September 2025

Rado Ištok is a curator and art historian, currently Curator of the Collection of Art Since 1945 at the National Gallery Prague (NGP), Czech Republic, and a PhD candidate at the Institute of Art History at Charles University, Prague. He co-curated the 2nd edition of the biennale Matter of Art (2022) in Prague and led the European Cooperation Project 4Cs (2018–2020) at Nida Art Colony, Vilnius Academy of Arts. His writing has appeared in art magazines, academic journals, and exhibition catalogues, and he has edited numerous publications.

In 2025, G.A.S. Foundation partnered with TheMuseumsLab, whose residencies offer Fellows and host institutions opportunities to exchange expertise, broaden skills, and build lasting partnerships. Rado was selected as a 2025 TheMuseumsLab Fellow and, alongside Ng’onga Silupya, spent a week at G.A.S. Lagos. His residency provided an introduction to Lagos’s art ecosystem through visits to institutions and exhibitions, and conversations with artists, curators, and cultural practitioners. He also engaged with the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, exploring artistic and curatorial practices connected to the Cold War era, Nigeria’s ties to the Eastern Bloc, and broader questions of decolonisation and independence.

During their stay, the fellows visited key institutions across the city, including the National Museum, Lagos; Centre for Black Arts & Culture; John Randle Centre; Yemisi Shyllon Museum; Ben Enwonwu Foundation; CCA Lagos; Yaba Art Museum; National Theatre, Lagos; Lekki Art Market; and Freedom Park.

Germany | September 2025

Ng’onga Silupya is a curator, cultural practitioner, arts administrator and art writer based in Lusaka, Zambia. Her curatorial perspective is informed by theories of mediation, cultural studies, visual studies and art history. Her research interests lie in reimagining societies and communities by embracing indigenous and culturally sustainable practices through contemporary art to address socio-political and environmental issues. She associates her work with narratives and local practices connected with various ethnic groups in Zambia and across the globe. 

In 2025, G.A.S. Foundation partnered with TheMuseumsLab, whose residencies offer Fellows and host institutions opportunities to exchange expertise, broaden skills, and build lasting partnerships. Ng’onga was selected as a 2025 TheMuseumsLab Fellow and, alongside Rado Ištok, spent a week at G.A.S. Lagos. Her work during the residency focused on curatorial practices in African contemporary art, with particular attention to themes of colonialism and resistance. The residency enabled her to engage with Lagos’s contemporary art ecosystem, visit museums, archives, and cultural spaces, and connect with practitioners working with digital platforms, fostering opportunities for dialogue and future collaboration.

During their stay, the fellows visited key institutions across the city, including the National Museum, Lagos; Centre for Black Arts & Culture; John Randle Centre; Yemisi Shyllon Museum; Ben Enwonwu Foundation; CCA Lagos; Yaba Art Museum; National Theatre, Lagos; Lekki Art Market; and Freedom Park.

Nigeria | September - October 2025

Chinyere Obieze is a cultural producer whose practice investigates the material negotiations of knowledge systems across technology, nature, culture, and economy. Their practice interrogates how these interconnected forces shape and inform artistic production, with a focus on fostering critical thinking, interdisciplinary practices, and inclusivity in contemporary art spaces. She is currently developing frameworks to understand Africa’s evolving presence in digital environments and was the first resident sponsored by The Osahon Okunbo Foundation (TOOF), our new global circle patron, to spend four weeks at G.A.S. Lagos.

During her residency, Chinyere engaged with research on postmodern art in Nigeria, conducting interviews with a wide range of cultural stakeholders, including artists, writers, and gallerists. She also made extensive use of the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, drawing on source materials to support and generate new insights. Her residency not only offered critical perspectives on the history of Nigerian art, tracing its evolution from the pre- to post-Independence eras, but also fostered dialogue around its contemporary and future practices.

At the conclusion of her residency, Chinyere presented her findings in a public event titled Perpetual Motion People, sharing research, reflections, and readings that explored the legacies of Nigerian art and its shifting meanings across generations. Through this presentation, she traced how Nigerian artists have articulated identity and imagination across times of social and cultural change.

Nigeria | September - October 2025

Adewale Kolawole John is a visual artist born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. His practice is rooted in an exploration of Yoruba traditional music, with a particular focus on Jùjú and its cultural legacies. Through painting, he creates rich, textured portraits that often depict Yoruba musicians in traditional attire, capturing not only their likeness but also the spirit and atmosphere of their music. His work is informed by archival research and personal encounters with performances, record sleeves, and musical histories, which he translates into layered compositions on canvas. By drawing inspiration from Yoruba soundscapes, Adewale situates his practice at the intersection of memory, heritage, and contemporary visual expression.

During his residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Adewale focused on creating new paintings while deepening his understanding of Yoruba music. Drawing on resources from the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, he expanded his research to trace the intertwined histories of Jùjú and Highlife across West Africa, examining how these genres merge African rhythmic structures with Western jazz influences. This exploration informed the works he produced during his residency, connecting studio practice with the broader cultural and historical contexts of Yoruba music.

The residency concluded with a studio visit and review session, where Adewale shared the works he developed and reflected on the ideas that shaped his practice. The evening brought together a diverse group of art professionals including writers, curators, designers, artists, and fellow residents for an engaging session of dialogue and exchange

Adewale's residency was generously supported by Adegbola Art Projects.

Madagascar | September - November 2025

Joey Aresoa is a multidisciplinary artist based in Madagascar whose work explores the power of personal and collective narratives. She investigates the persistence and erasure of stories that shape identities, with a focus on memory and oral transmission. Her practice reactivates myths and legends, crafting everyday heroines to strengthen representation and respond to dominant narratives. Spanning visual arts, poetry, and performance, Joey often creates immersive installations that engage audiences with themes of identity and history. Her figurative work interrogates iconographies inherited from colonization, creating dialogues between past and present while questioning meanings imposed by colonial history.

Joey was the inaugural resident supported by Fondation H and spent six weeks at G.A.S. Lagos researching Nigeria’s oral traditions, from oríkì and proverbs to riddles and storytelling. She met with poets, artists, and cultural custodians, and visited Villa Karo for exchanges with cultural practitioners. Key engagements included a studio visit to Kelani Abass and a creative session with poet and author Aremo Gemini.

At the conclusion of her residency, Joey contributed to the 2025 Re:assemblages Symposium, co-hosting a theatre workshop with Dr. Kanyin Ajayi that reimagined post-Independence debates on Negritude, pan-Africanism, and cultural authenticity. The workshop explored Francophone African playwrights from the 1990s to early 2000s who challenged conventional African textuality, combining presentations, dramatic readings, and seminar-style discussions. Joey’s participation brought a situated Francophone perspective from Madagascar, connecting the workshop’s focus to Malagasy dramaturgy, memory, colonial legacies, and oral traditions, and contributing to a living archive of post-Négritude theatre.

Joey Aresoa's residency was generously supported by Fondation H.

USA | October - November 2025

Daniel Minter is a painter, illustrator, and educator whose work explores themes of displacement and diaspora, spirituality, and the recreation of meanings of home. In his richly textured bas-relief and mixed media assemblages, Minter employs diverse materials including metal, wood, twine, and clay to construct an iconography of the Afro-Atlantic experience rooted in resilience, resistance, and healing. Daniel’s visual artwork is informed by extensive travel across the African Diaspora. These experiences have deepened his understanding and expanded his spiritual consciousness in ways that continue to nurture his life and work. Minter co-founded Indigo Arts Alliance, a nonprofit artist residency and incubator for creative scholarship dedicated to cultivating the artistic development of Black and Brown people globally.

Daniel completed an eight-week residency split between G.A.S. Lagos and the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, conducting research in the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive. At the tranquil farm house, he focused on creative inquiry and technical development, producing preparatory studies for larger works across painting and printmaking, including relief prints in linoleum and woodblock. Midway through the residency, he travelled to Benin City and Oshogbo, and conducted visits to institutions such as the John Randle Museum, National Museum, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), and Jazzhole, as well as a studio visit with artist Kelani Abass.

At the conclusion of his residency, Daniel hosted Key Images, a hands-on print workshop introducing participants to his approach to relief block carving and the use of personal symbols in assemblage practice. Participants sketched meaningful images, carved them onto small print blocks, and created a collective print that wove together individual narratives into a shared artwork.

Daniel's residency was generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Nigeria | October - November 2025

Kwadwo A. Asiedu (b. 1987) is a self-taught Ghanaian artist and photographer, born in Mexico and currently based in Lagos, Nigeria. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from the University of Hertfordshire, England. Raised within the grounds of The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)—home to one of West Africa’s largest preserved secondary rainforests—Kwadwo’s early life was deeply intertwined with the rhythms and intricacies of nature. This upbringing fostered a lifelong reverence for the living world and a visual practice rooted in abstracted landscapes. Drawing on flora, fauna, and ecological systems, his work investigates humanity’s fragmented relationship with nature, positioning him as a conduit translating nature’s emotive force into visual forms that critique, honour, and reimagine our place within Earth’s ecosystems.

During his eight-week residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, Kwadwo immersed himself in the rural and unique environment of the farm. He created new paintings in response to the surrounding landscape, developing layered abstractions that engaged the land visually, emotionally, and conceptually. The residency provided focused time for studio practice, reflection, and experimentation with scale, composition, and materiality. One of the works, Malus of Alhaji, was inspired by Mrs. Monsurat Giwa, the G.A.S. Farm House supervisor, and was showcased during the 2025 Lagos Art Tour and his open studio, which coincided with the tour.

The residency culminated in Cultivating Your Creative Purpose, featuring a screening of The Salt of the Earth by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, followed by a guided dialogue with Kwadwo on developing an artistic practice. The 2014 documentary follows acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado, whose black-and-white images chronicle major historical and environmental moments. The event was a pivotal moment for Kwadwo, reflecting on his journey and aspirations as a full-time artist.

USA | October 2025

Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze (b. 1982, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) creates large-scale drawings on paper that explore the vast and magical potential of space and the balance between magnitude and weightlessness. Her practice, informed by architecture, design, and choreography, challenges conventional understandings of how drawings can be experienced dimensionally. Ruby holds a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, Temple University (2004, summa cum laude) and an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2006). She has exhibited internationally in New York, Johannesburg, Paris, Mexico City, São Paulo, London, and Lagos.

During her two-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Ruby focused on sustaining her drawing practice and connecting with other creatives. She met with artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji and engaged locally, including work with a tailor to explore fabric and material experimentation, reflecting her broader interest in combining drawing, design, and spatial practice.

Ruby’s residency was generously supported by Goodman Gallery.

Uganda | October - November 2025

E.N. Mirembe is a cultural worker who works as a curator, writer, and researcher. Their curatorial practice is founded on an interest in work by Black writers and artists as an experimental ground for conversation, critical fabulation, play, theory, and method. They curated Forms of Fray (The African Arts Trust, 2025), The Geography of Fixed Things (ARAK Collection, 2025), Njabala: An Elegy (Makerere Art Gallery, 2024), and at the limit of dream (Brussels, 2023). Together with Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo they co-curated in transit under another sky, which has had iterations in Kampala, Nairobi, London, and the 2025 Coventry Biennial. Mirembe’s writing is published in Artforum, Africa is a Country, African Arguments, and other outlets.

During their residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Mirembe engaged deeply with the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, spending time researching Black Orpheus journals as part of ongoing work on literary magazines. They connected with Lagos-based artists, writers, and cultural practitioners through studio visits, literary networks, and cultural gatherings. Their residency included participation in the Fieldnotes program with Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, visits to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise and the Yemisi Shyllon Museum, and engagement with events such as DesignWeek Lagos.

Mirembe’s residency culminated in their contribution to the 2025 Re:assemblages Symposium, framing a discussion with Dr. Nadine Siegert around the publication Reading Ecologies: Transforming Publishing in Africa. The discussion positioned Black literary cultures and independent art publishing as world-making practices, examining how magazines and initiatives such as The Crisis (New York, 1910–), Black Orpheus (Ibadan, 1957–75), Transition (Kampala–Accra–Boston, 1961–), Staffrider (Johannesburg, 1978–93), and Medu (Gaborone, 1979–85) have historically shaped and unsettled knowledge production. The dialogue also highlighted contemporary practices through the four-year We Make Books project, initiated by Goethe-Institut Nigeria in collaboration with AFRIKADAA (Paris), Mosaïques (Yaoundé), and Miss Read (Berlin), demonstrating co-publishing as both method and metaphor in transcontinental engagements.

Netherlands | November - December 2025

Quinsy Gario is a performance poet and artist from Curaçao and St. Maarten whose work is grounded in decolonial remembering and the possibility of instituting otherwise. His project Zwarte Piet Is Racisme (2011–2012) helped usher in the second wave of anti-racism movements in the Netherlands. Through successive collaborative works across the Baltics between 2020 and 2024, he has contributed to critical conversations on the region’s role within the pan-European colonial project. Gario has an academic background in media studies, gender studies, and postcolonial studies, and is a graduate of the Master Artistic Research programme at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.

His residency at G.A.S. Lagos offered dedicated time to explore questions of belonging, return, and the ethical responsibilities attached to repatriation. During his stay, Quinsy engaged with local artists, theatre-makers, poets, and researchers working on colonial memory, slavery, and the politics of preservation. Midway through the residency, he undertook research visits to key historical sites, including the Slave History Museum in Calabar, Badagry, and Osogbo, deepening his engagement with Nigeria’s layered histories of resistance, spirituality, and remembrance.

As part of his residency, Quinsy contributed to the 2025 Re:assemblages Symposium through the roundtable session Sustaining the Otherwise: The Unruly Archive. Hosted collaboratively by Sustaining the Otherwise, a long-term research and artistic project focused on restitution, reparation, and transformation, and G.A.S. Foundation, the session approached archives as living, performative ecologies. Through collective rehearsal, dialogue, and embodied exchange, Quinsy and fellow contributors explored everyday memory work, counter-archives, and practices that challenge colonial and racial structures across African and diasporic contexts. The session opened space for considering how knowledge, memory, and ethical imagination circulate when archives are danced, spoken, or carried in the body, generating new political, epistemic, and imaginative possibilities.

Quinsy's residency was supported by Sustaining the Otherwise.

USA | November - December 2025

Khaleb Brooks is a Black critical artist whose multidisciplinary practice engages archives, collective memory, and lived experience to generate new ways of understanding history, healing, and futurity. Working across sculpture, performance, and moving image, Brooks transforms sites of trauma into spaces of reclamation, community, and transcendence. They are the artist behind The Wake, London’s first permanent memorial honouring victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, scheduled for unveiling in 2027. Brooks is a Sundance Trans Possibilities and OTV Fellow and recently completed their debut narrative fiction film, May The Road Rise Up to Meet You. Their work has been presented internationally, including at Onassis AiR (Athens), the International Slavery Museum (Liverpool), and through residencies across Brazil and Los Angeles.

During their five-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Khaleb expanded their research into the Atlantic Slave Trade from a Nigerian perspective. This included sustained engagement with the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, alongside research visits to key historical and cultural sites such as the Badagry Heritage Museum, Gberefu Island, the Brazilian Quarter, the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), the Slave History Museum in Calabar, and Igun Street in Benin City. These investigations directly supported the ongoing development of The Wake, a nearly seven-metre-high bronze cowrie shell memorialising enslaved Africans and their descendants. 

The residency culminated in Body Memory, a meditative, movement-based workshop led by Khaleb Brooks. The session explored how the body holds personal and collective memory, inviting participants to reflect on questions of memorialisation, exclusion, and inherited histories. Drawing on elements of Butoh, a post-war Japanese dance-theatre form developed by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, Khaleb approached the body as a site of transformation and resistance. 

Khaleb's residency was generously supported by the Mayor of London.

United Kingdom | November - December 2025

Sola Olulode is a British–Nigerian artist based in London. She received a BA in Fine Art Painting from the University of Brighton in 2018 and later completed a graduate studio residency at Lewisham Art House. Working across natural dyeing, wax, ink, pastel, and impasto, Sola creates richly textured canvases that explore the fluidity of identity. Grounded in lived experience, friendships, and cultural reference points, her practice centres Black queer womxn, foregrounding the importance of representation, care, and celebration. Her figures inhabit tender, utopian spaces that honour queer intimacy beyond reductive narratives, offering moments of warmth, memory, and deep connection.

During her residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Sola used the time and space to expand her practice through research and material experimentation. She focused on deepening her engagement with Yoruba textile traditions, particularly the cultural histories and processes of adire. Her residency included reading, archive visits, site-based research, and hands-on learning through workshops and engagements with local dyers and textile practitioners. She also participated in a week-long masterclass led by Dr. Peju Layiwola, a Nigeria-based artist and historian, whose courses celebrate the breadth of African artistic traditions and knowledge systems, ranging from adire and dyeing techniques to bronze casting, jewellery making, and other forms of material practice.

This period offered Sola the opportunity to experiment with materials she had not previously accessed, explore colour and resist-dye processes, and strengthen both the technical and conceptual foundations of her work. The residency also allowed her to reconnect with Lagos, the city her family originates from while building meaningful relationships within the local creative community. She approached the residency as a moment of expansion, developing a more confident body of work grounded in cultural expertise, craft lineages, and shared artistic exchange.

The residency culminated in Artist CRIT, an informal art critique session facilitated by Sola Olulode. Designed for artists working across disciplines who may feel underserved by traditional critique structures, the session created a supportive and open environment for sharing work, exchanging ideas, and receiving constructive feedback. Centring dialogue, care, and mutual respect, Artist CRIT invited participants to present works-in-progress, completed pieces, or conceptual ideas, whether physically or digitally and engage in thoughtful collective reflection on process and practice.

Sola's residency was generously supported through funding from Arts Council England.

Finland | November - December 2025

Sasha Huber is a Helsinki-based visual artist of Swiss-Haitian heritage whose work explores the politics of memory, belonging, and care in relation to colonial legacies. Bridging history and the present, she engages with archival material through a layered practice spanning reparative interventions, film, photography, and collaboration. Known for using a staple gun—a tool symbolically resonant as both weapon and means of repair—it becomes a method of stitching together colonial wounds. 

During her residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Sasha developed a commemorative portrait of Bisi Silva, founder of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos. The work reflects Bisi’s lasting impact on artistic and curatorial practice and was gifted to CCA as a permanent tribute. Sasha and Bisi first met in the mid-2000s during a residency in Helsinki and remained in contact until Bisi’s passing.

Her residency included research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, studio visits, and close collaboration with CCA to contextualise the portrait. She also visited the G.A.S. Farm House, the Badagry Slave Route, and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, grounding the project within broader histories of memory and lineage.

The portrait was unveiled on December 17, 2025, at CCA Lagos as part of the institution’s 18th anniversary celebrations. In the final week of her residency, Sasha participated in Òwú. Fil. Faden. Thread. at CCA Lagos, a travelling exhibition examining textile histories shaped by colonial trade, migration, and reclamation, and took part in a public conversation with fellow exhibiting artist Jumoke Sanwo.

Sasha was introduced to G.A.S. by Sustaining the Otherwise. Her research trip was supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg and Frame Contemporary Art Finland, while her artistic work is supported by the Arts Promotion Centre, Finland.

Nigeria | January - February 2026

Fiyin Koko Tunde-Onadele (b. 1994) is a multidisciplinary Nigerian artist whose practice is rooted in womanism, storytelling, and the reimagining of narratives that place women at the centre of their own worlds. Self-taught, her artistic journey began in childhood, inspired by watching her mother paint. Working across mixed-media painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and digital illustration, she draws from six guiding pillars: womanism, conversation, body positivity, movement, love, and femininity. Her work blends fantasy, her signature use of blue, and elements of artivism to create immersive visual stories that explore memory, identity, and the everyday experiences of women.

Fiyin completed a five-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, where she immersed herself in the distinct environments of both G.A.S. Lagos and the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise. Her time began in Lagos, where she conducted studio visits and undertook research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive. She then relocated to the farm, where she developed new works and experimented with painting, sculpture, and installation, allowing the landscape and rhythm of the environment to guide her practice. Midway through the residency, she travelled to Osogbo, where she visited a mentor who introduced her to fibreglass and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove.

In the final week of her residency, she led Kite Day with the Girls in collaboration with St. John’s Primary School, Ikiṣẹ, offering a hands-on opportunity for female students to explore kite-making and experiment with design.

The residency concluded in Story Story, an interactive presentation of residency research, reflections, and clay works. Framed as a journey through storytelling, play, and imagination, the evening traced how her time at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ informed the works developed during her five-week residency.

USA | January - March 2026

Ryan Tenney is an interdisciplinary (agri)cultural worker whose practice brings together agriculture, artistic production, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. His recent work explores the hybridisation of gourds with digital technologies and sensor systems, positioning agriculture as both a cultural and speculative framework for imagining alternative futures.

Ryan’s residency at G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ centred on extensive, hands-on knowledge exchange with local farmers at Ecology Green Farm, as well as herbalists and weavers in the surrounding community. Alongside this, he developed artistic outputs that integrated painting, kinetic systems, and technological components. Works such as his motorised wheelbarrow combined sculptural intervention with functional design, developed in collaboration with farmers in Ijebu.

As part of his cultural immersion, he visited the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove and participated in a group exhibition alongside fellow resident Fiyin Koko. The exhibition, Chord Notes: Body Rhythms in the City, was curated by Chinyere Obieze.

Towards the end of his residency, he collaborated with fellow resident Jonathan Chambalin on One Bulb At A Time, a joint presentation exploring agricultural innovation, craft, and decentralised energy systems. The residency culminated in AgroArt: (Agri)cultural Production, a presentation of Ryan’s research and reflections, featuring live demonstrations and insights drawn from his time in residence.

Ryan Tenney’s residency was generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Nigeria | January - February 2026

Nduka Ikechukwu is a Nigerian artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, installation, and material-based experimentation. Rooted in his cultural identity, his work explores the relationship between materiality and human activity, particularly in relation to tradition and everyday life. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine and Applied Arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he is currently pursuing his MFA.

During his residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Nduka focused primarily on the development of new works, using his signature materials, net and strip belts, to further expand his sculptural language. Alongside his studio practice, he engaged with the local art community through studio visits, networking, and informal exchanges with artists including Marcelina Akpojotor and Olumide Onadipe.

On 30th January 2026, he hosted Face to Face, a small networking session that brought together peers in the Lagos art and culture space for conversation around practice, process, and artistic growth.

The residency culminated in Artist Open Studio, a presentation and walkthrough of works developed during his time in residence, combining a guided feedback session with a public sharing of research, experimentation, and new directions in his practice.

Nduka Ikechukwu’s residency was generously supported by the Osahon Okunbo Foundation (TOOF).

Nigeria | February - March 2026

Loni Abiodun, also known as Loniandtheoffenders, is a Nigerian photographer and filmmaker whose work fuses urban portraiture with narrative snapshots of everyday life. Together with “The Offenders,” a close-knit circle of collaborators, he explores themes of identity, community dynamics, and social commentary, drawing on personal experience to shape a distinctive visual language. His practice functions as a visual diary, combining candid imagery, stylised portraits, ambient sound, and fragments of untold local stories. Alongside his artistic work, Loni is an active music enthusiast and volunteers at youth creative workshops, supporting the next generation of storytellers.

During his five-week residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, Loni focused on deepening his exploration of the contrast between rural communities and Lagos’ urban energy. He spent much of his time conducting fieldwork in neighbouring farm communities, documenting everyday life through sound recording, film, and photography.

On 11th March 2026, Loni hosted Capturing Memories, a community-based storytelling workshop with students from St. John’s Primary School, Ikiṣẹ. The session introduced participants to photography and videography as tools for documenting personal and collective memory, combining interviews, image-making, and hands-on engagement with drone technology to encourage creative expression and self-representation.

UK | February - March 2026

Ranti Bam is a British-Nigerian artist whose practice centres on sculpture, installation, and performance, working primarily with clay to explore themes of holding, presence, and becoming. Her work engages hand-built forms that move between the figurative and the abstract, retaining the trace of touch as a record of the relationship between body and earth. She considers clay a primal material, composed of earth and water, shaped by hand, and transformed by fire, connecting this process to the idea of the primal feminine: an instinctive source of creation and wildness within all beings.

Ranti completed a one-week residency across G.A.S. Lagos and the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ. Much of her time was spent at the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, where she filmed over four days for her upcoming debut solo exhibition, Ranti Bam: SACRED GROVES, at South London Gallery. Alongside this, she undertook research using the G.A.S. Library and spent time at the Farm House. 

Ranti’s residency was generously supported by South London Gallery.

Nigeria | February - March 2026

Jonathan Chambalin is a Lagos-based multidisciplinary artist working across installation, sculpture, performance, photography, sound, and kinetic systems. His practice engages material experimentation, speculative infrastructure, and symbolic forms drawn from everyday Nigerian life.

Awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026, Jonathan approached his four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos as both a laboratory for making and a space for collective exchange. He developed Food to Power, an ongoing project investigating how agricultural by-products, such as ewedu stalks, can be transformed into small-scale kinetic energy systems. Alongside this, he spent time painting and building wind-driven kinetic sculptures for power generation.

His work centred on transforming agricultural waste into functional energy systems. In the process, he engaged directly with farming communities, revisited LASU Post-Service farms, collaborated with local craftspeople across mainland Lagos, and drew on resources from the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive.

On 6th March 2026, he hosted One Bulb at a Time, a presentation exploring how agricultural innovation can respond to the unique challenges of the Lagos landscape. Led by Jonathan in collaboration with Lagos Gallery Weekend, the session brought together practitioners across craft, farming, and technology, including local farmer Edward Ogani and artist Ryan Tenney, whose work foregrounds agro-technological approaches to communal development.

Jonathan's residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.

Nigeria | March - April 2026

adeoluwa oluwajoba is a Lagos-based mixed-media artist and awardee of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026, whose practice combines painting, collage, and image-transfer processes to construct layered visual compositions of bodies and landscapes. Working across photographic and traditional printmaking techniques, he explores the mechanics of image reproduction and the ways meaning is assembled through fragments.

During his three-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, adeoluwa focused on experimenting with cyanotype printing on fabric, alongside conducting research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, as well as the Centre for Contemporary Art Library. His process involved moving through the city to gather images and observe public spaces, using these encounters to inform his ongoing body of work, Alice in a Daydream.

The residency culminated in The Cyanotype Studio on 2nd April 2026, a two-part programme comprising a hands-on cyanotype printing workshop and an open studio presentation. The session introduced participants to cyanotype as both a photographic technique and a drawing tool, guiding them through image-making processes using photographic negatives and hand-drawn forms, before opening into a presentation of works developed during the residency.

adeoluwa’s residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.

UK | March 2026

Olutomi Kassim is a British-Nigerian academic researcher and interdisciplinary artist whose work spans scholarly writing, textile practice, and performance-based inquiry. Her practice explores how storytelling, visual metaphors, and collective memory can open dialogue around governance, social justice, and postcolonial prebendal structures.

Awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026, Olutomi undertook a three-week residency focused on developing and delivering a workshop on critical writing about art in postcolonial Nigeria. She spent the first two weeks refining materials and conducting research, drawing on the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive to support the writing phase of her PhD on Nigerian art activism. During this time, she also connected with Oliver Enwonwu, who later joined as a co-facilitator.

From 25–27 March 2026, she led the inaugural G.A.S. Critical Writing Workshop, a three-day programme supporting the development of emerging art writers, researchers, and cultural practitioners. Working with a small group of selected participants, the sessions approached writing as a form of inquiry and engagement, encouraging critical reflection on the social and political contexts shaping contemporary art.

Olutomi's residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.

Nigeria | March - April 2026

Okwei Odili is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and musician whose practice spans music, research, and ecological inquiry. Working between Lagos and Salvador, Brazil, she engages sound, storytelling, and cultural knowledge systems to explore identity, healing, and transatlantic exchange. She gained international recognition through her collaboration with Brazilian musicians on the EP IFA Afrobeat + Okwei Odili, which won the Caymmi Music Award for Best New Revelation. Through subsequent projects, including her band Aweto and her solo album Òsùmàrè, her work continues to bridge Nigerian and Brazilian musical traditions while expanding into reflections on ecology, spirituality, and collective wellbeing.

For six weeks, Okwei was in residence at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where she explored traditional healing practices at the intersection of music and medicinal plants. Her time centred on research and embodied engagement with the environment, alongside exchanges with herbalists, historians, musicians, and cultural practitioners. She also developed new musical and visual work grounded in ecological health, mental wellbeing, women’s empowerment, and sustainability.

On 29th May 2026, she presented Herbal Music, a live musical performance alongside Afro-jazz guitarist Adedayo Allegro Michael Lopez, exploring organic Nigerian sound traditions. 

Her residency concluded with Underground Ave, a public presentation of works in progress alongside Kush Badhwar, Oluwasemilore Delano and Yoma Emore. Bringing together unfinished ideas, footage, prototypes, tests, and experiments developed during their time at G.A.S., the event offered insight into the artists' ongoing research processes and emerging lines of inquiry.

USA | March - April 2026

Monai McCullough is a multidisciplinary ecological researcher and farmer whose work is rooted in the decolonisation of horticulture. Based in New York City, her practice brings together research, education, and regenerative approaches to reimagine relationships between people and the natural world. Through her ongoing project, Trees of Nigeria, she develops an ecological archive and creative mapping of sacred, medicinal, and coastal trees across Nigeria and the Benin Republic. 

Monai’s ongoing 6-week residency at G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ began on 16 March and will end on 24 April 2026. During this period, she is focused on expanding her Trees of Nigeria research through fieldwork, documentation, and community engagement. Working across photography, drawing, and printmaking, she recorded interviews with herbalists, horticulturalists, and local knowledge holders, using audio and visual tools to gather stories and plant knowledge. She also engaged directly with the farm environment, participating in planting activities and exploring opportunities for collaboration with institutions such as IITA. Alongside research, she expressed an interest in developing archival outputs, including a potential zine or publication to support the dissemination of her findings.

Monai’s residency is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

UK | April - May 2026

Lukman Ipese is a graphic designer and visual communicator exploring how identity, community, and culture intersect. Based in London, he works across editorial design, photography, digital media, and participatory workshops, using storytelling as a tool for connection. His practice blends personal narrative with collective experience, shaped by collaboration and care.

During his four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Lukman undertook field research and photographic documentation exploring how spirituality manifests in everyday visual culture across the city. His research included visits to cultural and historical sites across Lagos, including museums, galleries, and the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), alongside library research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive

On 29th April 2026, Lukman hosted Kitted for Culture, a presentation and zine-making workshop. The session explored graphic design as a shared process, focusing on identity, belief, and culture, particularly within his British-Nigerian heritage. This was followed by a hands-on workshop where participants created zines using collage, drawing, and writing, translating ideas into self-published works through experimentation with layout and storytelling.

Lukman's residency was generously supported by the Royal College of Art Association of Black Students, Alumni & Friends (RCA BLK).

Finland | April - May 2026

Helsinki-based Kush Badhwar works across filmmaking, artistic research, and urban inquiry as ongoing processes of spending time with places, communities, and ideas. His practice explores the gradual formation of counter-narratives around rapid transformations in land and water use, particularly within urban peripheries. Through film, fieldwork, and long-term observation, he examines how people navigate changing ecological, social, and political landscapes.

During his eight-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Kush focused on the riparian zones of Lagos, researching the coastlines, wetlands, bridges, and other spaces that exist between land and water. Through visits to communities across the city, he observed and documented the relationships between people, infrastructure, and shifting ecologies, gathering photographic and video material that informed his ongoing research and forthcoming presentation for the Sharjah Triennial. He also travelled to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, alongside research trips to Osogbo and Ibadan, extending his inquiry into broader questions of landscape, mobility, and environmental change.

Alongside his independent research, Kush began developing an ongoing collaborative project with fellow resident Oluwasemilore Delano. As part of the research process, the pair invited artists, architects, researchers, and cultural practitioners to participate in a series of recorded conversations reflecting on the city's material conditions, processes of transformation, and the ways creative practitioners might observe, interpret, and respond to them. The footage and research gathered during the residency will continue to inform the development of the project beyond their time at G.A.S.

Early in his residency, Kush hosted Work Starts Now, a film screening and discussion featuring three of his short films: We in a 1 Room Kitchen, Work Starts Now, and Blood Earth. Exploring themes of labour, resistance, and creative expression, the event introduced local audiences to his practice while creating space for dialogue and exchange.

His residency concluded with Underground Ave, a public presentation of works in progress alongside Okwei Odili, Oluwasemilore Delano, and Yoma Emore. Bringing together unfinished ideas, footage, prototypes, tests, and experiments developed during their time at G.A.S., the event offered insight into the artists’ ongoing research processes and emerging lines of inquiry.

Kush's residency was realised in collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Foundation. 

UK | April - May 2026

Oluwasemilore Delano, from Ogun state, Nigeria, is a London, Lagos-based artist whose practice explores memory, lineage, and Black spatial consciousness through drawing and sculpture. Her practice continually returns to the question of what it means to depict the figure, not just as form, but as a site of perception. She is interested in what it means to look, especially when looking is shaped by materials that push back and have their own histories, contexts, and attitudes. Her work engages with materials like charcoal, concrete, oil, and textured black surfaces to interrogate themes of time, self/communal referencing, and cultural inheritance. 

During her six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Oluwasemilore focused on material experimentation, particularly with ink, concrete, and metal. Alongside studio-based research, she visited the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ and undertook research trips to Ibadan, Oyo and Osoghbo. Encounters with cattle, pastoral landscapes, and forms of labour across these journeys became an important point of reference within her developing body of work.

As part of this research, she also studied domestic and industrial cooking vessels, including ikoko irin and traditional sugar kettles. Her visits to foundries in Saki, a town in Oyo state provided insight into the processes of aluminium casting and metalworking, deepening her engagement with local histories of making and material transformation.

Alongside her independent research, Oluwasemilore began developing an ongoing collaborative project with fellow resident Kush Badhwar. Together, they explored Lagos through the intersections of art, architecture, and the built environment, conducting a series of recorded conversations with artists, architects, researchers, and cultural practitioners. The footage and research gathered during the residency will continue to inform the development of the project beyond their time at G.A.S.

Her residency culminated in Ṣé ọ̀run jẹ awọ ara? (Is the Sky Skin?), a presentation of residency research and monoprinting workshop. Taking its title as a statement rather than a question, the event invited participants to consider how we understand our bodies beyond ourselves, reflecting on practices of touch and intimacy with skin within a world shaped by difference.

Her residency concluded with Underground Ave, a public presentation of works in progress alongside Kush Badhwar, Okwei Odili, and  Oluwasemilore Delano. Bringing together unfinished ideas, footage, prototypes, tests, and experiments developed during their time at G.A.S., the event offered insight into the artists' ongoing research processes and emerging lines of inquiry.

Oluwasemilore’s residency was generously supported by Adegbola Art Gallery.

Nigeria | May 2026

Yoma Emore (b. 1997, Nigeria) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores personal and collective memory, lineage, and material history through research-led textile and material experimentation. Working across embroidery, hand-felting, printmaking, and the reworking of found and discarded materials, she engages with familial archives and historical records to examine the residues of displacement, migration, and transnational connection. Across her practice, material becomes a site of continuity and transformation, allowing past narratives to resurface and shift through processes of making.

During her four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Yoma focused on research into the historical relationships between the Portuguese and the Warri Kingdom, drawing on publications from the G.A.S. Library and the Picton Archive. This research contributed to the development of The Prince Who Never Was, an ongoing body of work exploring early Portuguese presence in West Africa, transatlantic navigation, and the histories of the Itsekiri Kingdom within broader coastal networks and histories.

Alongside her archival research, Yoma dedicated time to material experimentation, exploring embroidery and felting techniques using velvet and repurposed materials from previous projects. Through these processes, she investigated the relationship between material, memory, and status, testing new approaches that will continue to inform the development of her work.

Her residency culminated in The Archive is Only the First Sentence, an open studio and presentation of residency research. The session introduced the archival and narrative frameworks shaping her practice, alongside The Prince Who Never Was, offering insight into her ongoing exploration of lineage, memory, and the sixteenth-century Lusophone–Warri encounters.

Her residency concluded with Underground Ave, a public presentation of works in progress alongside Kush Badhwar, Okwei Odili, and Oluwasemilore Delano. Bringing together unfinished ideas, footage, prototypes, tests, and experiments developed during their time at G.A.S., the event offered insight into the artists' ongoing research processes and emerging lines of inquiry.

Yoma's residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.