The inaugural LagosPhoto Biennial has officially opened across Lagos and Ibadan, marking a major milestone for West Africa’s contemporary art scene. The 2025 edition — themed “Incarceration” — delves into urgent social and political conversations around freedom, justice, and identity, using photography as a vehicle for truth and transformation.
Organized by the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), the LagosPhoto Biennial expands on the success of the long-running LagosPhoto Festival, evolving into a multi-city platform that connects artists, activists, and audiences through immersive exhibitions, workshops, and performances.
“This Biennial is not just an exhibition — it is a dialogue,” said curator Azu Nwagbogu, founder of the African Artists’ Foundation. “We’re using photography to confront systems that imprison both the body and the imagination.”
The exhibitions are hosted in iconic locations across both cities, including the National Museum in Lagos, Freedom Park, and Mapo Hall in Ibadan. Each space has been transformed into a living gallery, featuring installations that address themes such as mass incarceration, gender inequality, environmental displacement, and the psychological boundaries of modern society.
Artists from across Africa and the diaspora — including Zanele Muholi (South Africa), Andrew Esiebo (Nigeria), Namsa Leuba (Guinea/Switzerland), and Trevor Stuurman (South Africa) — are among those whose works explore the visible and invisible prisons that shape African life.
The Biennial’s educational program also features talks, film screenings, and youth workshops focused on creative resistance and digital freedom. It aims to engage younger audiences and highlight how photography can challenge stereotypes and document untold histories.
“We’re witnessing an era where images are more powerful than ever,” noted Nigerian artist Yagazie Emezi, whose work centers on gender and trauma. “The Biennial reminds us that photography can be a weapon of liberation.”
The theme “Incarceration” carries both literal and metaphorical weight, reflecting ongoing discussions about justice reform, police brutality, and systemic inequality across Africa. Beyond bars and prisons, the Biennial interrogates social confinement — how poverty, patriarchy, and politics restrict the human spirit.
Since its opening, the event has drawn artists, curators, diplomats, and cultural leaders from across the continent, establishing Nigeria as a central hub for pan-African artistic exchange and critical thought.
“Lagos and Ibadan are symbolic spaces,” said co-curator Uche Okpa-Iroha. “They represent the dual realities of African modernity — freedom and control, innovation and restraint. This Biennial bridges those worlds.”
The LagosPhoto Biennial 2025 runs through December, with satellite exhibitions and artist residencies continuing into early 2026. Organizers hope it will spark ongoing conversations about art’s role in justice and healing, setting a precedent for future editions across Africa.