After marking its landmark tenth edition, ART X Lagos now enters 2026 with a renewed sense of what defines its spirit: gratitude, greatness and resilience. In this conversation, founder Tokini Peterside-Schwebig reflects on the moments that shaped the fair’s milestone year, from intergenerational tributes and boundary-pushing installations to the rising chorus of voices redefining African art. Looking ahead, she shares how the fair’s year-round work, deep community roots and unwavering commitment to emerging talent will shape its next chapter.
Looking back on this landmark 10th edition, what three words best capture the spirit and success of ART X Lagos 2025?
Gratitude. Greatness. Resilience.
10X was, above all, a moment to show gratitude — to everyone who has walked this journey with us and helped shape ART X Lagos into what it is today. It was also a celebration of greatness, recognising how far African creativity has come and the extraordinary heights still ahead.
And above all, it was a testament to resilience — the spirit behind our theme, Imagining Otherwise, No Matter the Tide — the courage to create boldly, to stay rooted in community, and to keep imagining a future shaped by African perspectives.
At its core, ART X Lagos has always been a collective movement — rooted in community and dedicated to transformation. Those values defined this milestone year and will continue to guide our next chapter.
What moments, collaborations, or responses from audiences stood out to you as defining highlights of this year’s fair?
This year’s tenth edition was filled with unforgettable moments, but a few stood out clearly. We welcomed 15 galleries from across Africa and its diaspora, and introduced the Spotlight Galleries — a new platform for the next generation of gallerists and artists reshaping Africa’s creative landscape.
A defining experience was our ART X ICON Exhibition, ‘An Exacting Eye’, honouring J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere. We unveiled rare photographs spanning six decades across three locations — a long-overdue homecoming for his legacy. The Masterclass led by his son, Amaize Ojeikere, and the live photography studio, Portraits of Modernity, deepened this tribute. Seeing his granddaughter, Efe Ojeikere, participate was a moving symbol of continuity.
Nengi Omuku’s exhibition, ‘External Realities, Internal Geographies’, presented in support of her foundation TAOH Africa, alongside a healing workshop. Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s installation, WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS HOPE: B’á ò kú, ìṣe ò tán, encouraged audiences to rediscover indigenous knowledge through touch, movement, and play.
Our Art Across Borders programme brought together six mid-career artists whose conversations on belonging, memory, and shared futures energised audiences. Sculptural installations expanded our spatial experience — Dennis Osadebe’s MASS (Devotion) gathered people in collective reflection, while Sokari Douglas Camp CBE’s Asoebi transformed a cultural symbol into monumental steel.
Speakers’ Corner, activated by A Third Space, centered on a mangrove installation by Mitimeth, became a hub of dialogue. Tales by Moonlight offered a deeply touching moment as Oluwalanu Agusto and Bruce Onobrakpeya shared stories with young audiences — watching children sit at Onobrakpeya’s feet was unforgettable.
ART X Cinema presented films by Mati Diop and Akinola Davies Jr., while ART X Live! celebrated the triumphant return of The Cavemen. ART X Talks: The Rebels and the Movement, held with kó,— our longest-standing gallery partner was truly historic, uniting Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jimoh Buraimoh, and Nike Davies-Okundaye to reflect on the Zaria Art Society and the Osogbo School.
Finally, The Schools’ Programme welcomed over 750 children from marginalised communities for guided tours and hands-on activities. Across the fair, the curiosity, pride, and engagement of our audiences were the true highlights of 10X.
The fair has grown into a major cultural force. What does the year-round work look like behind the scenes to bring each edition to life, and how has that evolved over the past decade?
Behind the scenes, ART X Lagos is a year-round endeavour. What people experience over four days in November is the result of months of research, curation, partnership-building, and deep community engagement. We work across multiple fronts — developing our programmes, nurturing artists and curators, strengthening collaborations with galleries and institutions across Africa and the world, and ensuring that the fair remains accessible and meaningful to a wide range of audiences.
A good example is the work behind our ART X ICON Exhibition this year. Curator-at-Large Missla Libsekal, who lives in Canada, alongside Amaize Ojeikere, spent months reviewing more than 8,000 of J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere’s negatives to carefully select the images presented at the fair — a reflection of the thorough preparation that happens behind the scenes at ART X Lagos.
Over the decade, this work has become more intentional. As the fair has grown, so has our responsibility — to the ecosystem, to young creatives, and to Lagos itself. Our team now operates almost like a cultural think-tank, listening closely to the needs of the community while imagining what the next chapter of African art can be. The evolution has been natural: more collaboration, deeper research, and a greater emphasis on long-term impact rather than four days of spectacle.
How do you balance championing emerging talent with supporting established galleries and artists, and how might that evolve moving forward?
That balance has always been at the heart of ART X Lagos. From the beginning, we set out to build a platform where emerging voices could stand confidently alongside established ones — because both are essential to the story of African art. Our Main Galleries and Art Across Borders anchor the fair with the strength and consistency of seasoned practitioners, while platforms like Spotlight Galleries, The Development Forum, and our educational initiatives open the door to new perspectives and new talent.
Our commitment to emerging artists remains unwavering. We continue to champion them through mentorship, visibility, and the networks that help sustain careers. Looking ahead, this balance will only deepen — more intentional pathways for early-career artists, and more opportunities for intergenerational dialogue that strengthens the ecosystem as a whole.
And finally, as ART X Lagos enters its next chapter, what can we look forward to? Are there new formats, technologies or partnerships on the horizon?
The next decade is about building boldly. We are thoughtful about how we grow — we move with intention — but our focus is clear: investing more deeply in younger generations. Strengthening education, mentorship, and access for emerging creatives is where I believe the future of ART X lies.
There are exciting developments ahead, and we look forward to sharing them when the time is right.
Learn more about the fair via www.artxlagos.com _ @artxlagos
