Nigeria, the land of plenty

rain dance 1, Oyo town, 2016, Edouard Blondeau Three years ago, as I first came to Lagos, this blog started with the question "walking or not walking?" (on the streets of Lagos). Since then, every single day has been a new step of appropriation of the space. This process of familiarisation has been documented with photography and texts throughout this blog. I have also more recently decided to materialise this quest into a more artistic venture, namely an art exhibition called "In Motion", at 16/16 a hip space in Victoria Island. 16/16, led by Tushar Hathiramani, is a place where an ecclectic mix of people gathers around drinks or thai food during art exhibitions and performances. It is located in a flat traversed by light on the 8th floor of 16 Kofo-Abayomi street with a superbe view on the lagoon. I approached Tushar with some of my works created over a lapse of 3 years and it transpired from it that the concept of movement was a recurring pattern. This led t...

secret dance from Q-Dance Back in the 1960s, Broad street in Lagos Island, a few meters away from Nigeria's Central Bank and the Lagos Stock Exchange, was a fine address. Fast forward to 2018, Broad street is a hip street for street parties, the latest of which is called Dance Gathering 2018. It happened along the walls of the former prison yard, now called Freedom Park which has been redeveloped into a leisure park in 2010. The area feels like it did not change much over the past 50 years, albeit the wrinkles of time, heat and humidity. For instance, the building of the National Archives that has been exposing archive files through an open roof for a number of years has only recently finally been emptied. The party started very quietly around 4pm. Like all parties or functions here, the opening time is the time for organisers to start organising (or at least getting to get things going) and by no means the beginning of the show. The street had been partitioned in several ...

fishing couple The late afternoon sunlight was diffusing through a thick layer of air-born dust brought by the Harmattan, a wind blowing from the Sahara. December is the month when it starts in Lagos. The horizon blurs or sometimes completely dissolve in a thick white veil. The space is confined to shorter distances. This creates a feeling of intimacy and mystery at the same time. It was the end of 2017 and we took a banana boat to cross the entrance of the Lagos harbour down to the lighthouse which marks the access to the ocean. That afternoon the city was rather quiet on this holiday period. Many people had travelled to their family "villages" or abroad. As we reached the lighthouse beach, very few people were out by the shore making us feel we had the whole place to ourselves, hidden from the ship lined up at a distance from the shore waiting for their turn to enter the harbour. sunset walk Two silhouettes took a walk along the water, one of them had a large dre...

the pick-up that carried a ship It was mid morning and the sun was gently lighting-up the scene of a red-wine colored pick-up being loaded up with heavy chunks of metal that had just been cut off the remains of a shipwreck, landed on Tarkwa waterfront. Shadows were weakened by the presence of Harmattan dust that diffused sunlight. A pair of muscular young men were standing at the back of the pick-up to receive the chunks lifted up by another team of six. They were employed by the owner of the pick-up who stood by watching the scene. They had a similar structure as the crew I had met working on Ilashe beach . One of the boys was keen to show-off a bit, so he was holding his golden rimmed feature phone in one hand while maneuvering upward a large piece of metal to tilt it further. This was not very efficient but he must have thought it looked cool! a pilot ship landed here a few years ago A large space was full of water like a crater lake surr...

time for draft, fish can rest The sky brightens progressively turning from grey to pale blue. The line of horizon is filled with large dark-grey clouds. Above my head some elongated clouds have turned to white in high altitude while those a little lower catch their first shade of pink. The illumination of Lekki bridge has just been switched off, it must be around 6.30am. Traffic is light, nonetheless some pick-up trucks carry their loads of construction workers and fill the air with dark exhaust smoke. Probably thirty people squeeze, on the open platform at the back of the truck, around a cement mixer and a few piled up tools. Some of them sit on the platform lid. Truck with passengers look like a truncated pyramid on wheels choking its way up the Lekki Bridge. Coming down will generate less smoke because there will be not need to press the accelerator. Gravity is strong enough for the vehicle to gather speed downwards towards the toll gate. At this hour, there are mor...

Va-Bene on a crusade for tolerance and respect Long deep red artificial fingernails were busy setting up earrings with sparkling shades of white and red, as if they were incrusted with diamonds and rubies. As soon as it was done, it was time for make-up to be applied. Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, alias crazinisT_artisT on Instagram, a Ghanaian contemporary art performer, was holding his iPhone as a mirror to apply a blue pencil on the contour of his eyes and lips. He would then add a pinch of pink gloss at the center of his lips which he would rub expertly to create a gradation of colors. Va-Bene talked with conviction about his imminent performance at the Iwaya Community Art Festival (ICAF Lagos 2017). His eyes were sending flashes, as he spoke, while two hair assistants were undoing his braids to turn them into woolly pompons. Va-Bene with make-up He was getting dressed-up in an open corner room on the first floor of an construction building over...

Brymo has just put his glasses down A red carpet covered the swimming pool in the leafy courtyard of Moorhouse hotel. Long tables, with chairs on one side only, had been arranged over it parallel to the stage. The organisers had thankfully done away with the usual round tables around which half of the seats can't possibly give a decent sight of the stage. Lagos Jazz Series 2017, the latest edition of Lagos Jazz Series, was an entirely Nigerian affair with its theme "back to the basics". Oti B: anything else would be uncivilised Oti Bazunu is the man that made it possible for that one night to take place. In a way, back to the basics, may have a broader meaning since the vintage and now legendary Oti's cellar is also transitioning to something new, due to open early next year. Ed Keazor, a historian, a lawyer and a keen singer, was the MC of the evening, a perfect host never short of praise for the talent of artists (maybe it helps to ...

connecting between mother Earth and Heavens Waves are crashing remorselessly on the sand of the ocean-shore beach, westward of the entrance of Lagos harbor. This stretch of sand is protected by the stone wall which extends into the sea up to a lighthouse to signal the entrance into the Lagos lagoon. As a result, the water current is deviated from the coast such that sand declivity into the water is minimal. It is a good place to safely go into the water. A group of women, aligned on the sand, stands on one leg. They are looking at their yoga instructors who are currently standing on their heads. The women, who wear the same dark blue sweater, after having exercised for ten or fifteen minutes soon retire under their light shed to have some food and some drinks. The two instructors, meanwhile, carry on executing more advanced positions. a fairly quiet sea The sun has actually disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds forming to the outer rim of a storm positioned...

Fela lives on Every year in October, Felabrations commemorate the memory of Fela Anikulapo Kuti for a whole week. This edition has been widely celebrated in several places in town. Obviously the biggest part of it was taking place at the New Afrika Shrine in Alausa. Freedom Park, in Lagos Island, has also had its fair share of Afrobeat celebration every night of the week. And for the VIPs, a function was organised at the Federal Palace hotel under a properly air-conditioned tent used for up-market weddings. Large VIP areas had been demarcated for the occasion, furnished with minimalist white sofas and a few fancy looking chairs and high tables towards the front of the stage. The line-up was great: Bez, Nnekka, Seun Kuti and Femi Kuti. One could have thought that it was worth going to only this event because of the great artist line-up and the fact that it was much more comfortable going there than all the way down to the New Africa Shrine which offers a somewhat rough environment ...

Oluseye and Lakin Ogunbanwo: Project One November 3rd was the first day of ART X. Still under the leadership of Tokini Peterside, it opened with an afternoon reserved to collectors and an evening to VIPs. Same location as the ART X Lagos first edition , with equal parking inferno, but somehow the same old trick worked to park right by the building. A great show this year, largely dominated by Nigerian artists and galleries. However South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Francophone Africa were also represented. Most importantly for the VIPs, Perrier-Jouet was a sponsor and their champagne was served chilled from their beautiful bottles adorned with art-deco flowers.  Ben Enwonwu's 1960 wooden sculptures commissioned by the Daily Mirror On the ground floor, seven Ben Enwonwu's wooden statues, carved in the 60s for the Daily Mirror, were presented for the first time to the public, courtesy of Access Bank. They represented newspaper readers. Interestingly from afar they had a...

of high-heels, beards and smartphones Saturday night, these are the last hours of the Lagos Fashion Week 2017. It takes place under a large air-conditioned marquee set-up in the middle of Eko Atlantic. The ambitious smart city is still work in progress. Just a few of the planned towers have been erected, but it is an adequate place for a large and chic gathering with an ounce of adventure in the middle of an empty space reclaimed on the sea. The city may not exist yet but a large paved boulevard is leading to the heart of the future city. It is perfect to go to a function where high-heels are de rigueur. And there is plenty of space to park. The theme of this year's Lagos Fashion Week modestly reads "Africa: Shaping Fashion's Future". As I come there at eight thirty in the evening, not much is happening outside the marquee, but judging by the amount of cars parked far away from the entrance, the hall must be packed. There is a relaxed atmosphere as ...