“7 Days In The Life Of Lagos” 3 SPONSORS PARTNERS SUPPORTERS LOGO AIRFRANCE KLM Partenaires Officiels Nº dossier : 2009065E 100 75 0 60 Date : 17/03/09 0 100 100 0 Validation DA/DC : Validation Client 100 10 0 0 About LagosPhoto LagosPhoto 2012 Exhibition Venues Receptions ABOUT LAGOSPHOTO Launched in October 2010, LagosPhoto is the first and only international arts festival of photography in Nigeria. Events include exhibitions, workshops, and large-scale outdoor prints displayed throughout the city with the aim of reclaiming public spaces and engaging the general public with multifaceted stories of Africa. LagosPhoto presents a contemporary and historical visual essay of the continent to both a local and global audience. In 2010, LagosPhoto held its inaugural edition with a month-long exhibition entitled “No Judgment: Africa Under the Prism” at the Eko Hotel & Suites, with over one thousand guests in attendance on the opening night. Large-scale images were also displayed in public spaces across the city, allowing for communal viewing outside of the formal venue, including exhibitions at the Muri Okunola Park (Victoria Island), Falomo Roundabout (Ikoyi), and MKO Abiola Park (Ikeja). In 2011, LagosPhoto featured forty-two international and local photographers with the theme “What’s Next Africa? The Hidden Stories”. Other events included an amateur photography competition, a creative design fair, an exhibition of photographs from the Nooderlicht Festival showcasing archival works by leading African photographers, a family day and picnic at Muri Okunola Park, and photographic development workshops for young children. The festival has attracted the attention of international media, such as NRC Handelsblad, ZAM Magazine, Reuters, Guernica, GUP Magazine, Vanguard, The Guardian, and Wings, among others. 6 LAGOSPHOTO 2012 LagosPhoto 2012 opens on 13 October with the theme “Seven Days in the Life of Lagos”. This year’s edition aims to capture the essence that makes the city of Lagos such a unique cultural environment. Lagos is the creative and business hub of Nigeria, arguably even Africa, an urban megapolis with a high population density. The rate of change in the city is also rapidly evolving with improvements struggling to keep pace with the restlessness and innovation of the people. Lagos is the most populous city in Nigeria, the second fastest growing city in Africa and the seventh fastest growing city in the world. A city of extremes, Lagos is also a city of contradictions. As the city transforms with the fast pace of urban migration and an explosion of development and technology that is dissolving barriers and leading to new types of interactions, LagosPhoto 2012 aims to document the city of Lagos from a comprehensive and nuanced perspective, one that reveals the big picture by focusing on the minute details of social life. Photographers were nominated to document aspects of life in the city with an extended photographic project, with topics including religion, architecture, culture, nightlife, economy, music, lifestyle, sports, government, and infrastructure, among others. By providing a plural point of view that includes the many facets of daily life in the diverse communities of Lagos, LagosPhoto 2012 continues its philosophy in documenting and inspiring change through photography. This year, internationally renowned photographer Stanley Greene will serve as Artistic Director of 7 LagosPhoto. As one of the most respected photographers in the world, Stanley Greene has a reputation for representing the world’s stories in the most visually stunning style combined with the philosophy of using photography to bear witness to the eternal struggle for social justice and human rights. LagosPhoto 2012 is directed by Stanley Greene, Azu Nwagbogu, and Caline Chagoury, and is co-curated by Medina Dugger and Joseph Gergel. LagosPhoto 2012 will open with the official exhibition at the Eko Hotel & Suites. LagosPhoto 2012 continues its mission in engaging the city of Lagos and the public by extending the exhibition to nine simultaneous satellite exhibition spaces throughout the city of Lagos. Exhibition venues include the African Artists’ Foundation, Nimbus Arts Gallery, A White Space, Omenka Gallery, The Federal Printing Press, Kalakuta Fela Museum, Ojota Park, the University of Lagos, and Falomo Roundabout. Aderemi Adgebite, Streets Engagement, 2012 8 Bayo Omoboriowo, Where Are We Going; Progress or Regress? 2012 10 Bayo Omoboriowo, Where Are We Going; Progress or Regress? 2012 11 Seven Days in the Life Of Lagos Eko Hotel & Suites Kuramo Waters Victoria Island 13 October - 11 November 2012 VIP Preview: 12 October, 6:30 PM (By Invitation Only) Grand Opening: 13 October, 6:30 PM (Tickets Available for a Suggested Donation of N2000) Free Admission After Opening As the official exhibition of LagosPhoto 2012, Seven Days in the Life of Lagos captures the energy and vibrance that makes the city of Lagos a unique cultural environment. Lagos is the creative and business hub of Nigeria, arguably even Africa, an urban megapolis with a high population density. The rate of change in the city is also rapidly evolving with improvements struggling to keep pace with the restlessness and innovation of the people. Lagos is the most populous city in Nigeria, the second fastest growing city in Africa and the seventh fastest growing city in the world. A city of extremes, Lagos is also a city of contradictions. As the city transforms with the fast pace of urban migration and an explosion of development and technology that is dissolving barriers and leading to new types of interactions, Seven Days in the Life of Lagos aims to document the city of Lagos from a comprehensive and nuanced perspective, one that reveals the big picture by focusing on the minute details of social life. Photographers were nominated to document aspects of life in the city with an extended 12 photographic project, with topics including religion, architecture, culture, nightlife, economy, music, lifestyle, sports, government, and infrastructure, among others. By providing a plural point of view that includes the many facets of daily life in the diverse communities of Lagos, LagosPhoto 2012 continues its philosophy in documenting and inspiring change through photography. Black.Light Project Photographs, Words and Graphic Novels Organised in Partnership with Goethe-Institut Nigeria and LagosPhoto Federal Government Press 9 Broad Street Lagos Island 13 - 27 October 2012 Opening Reception 13 October, 3 PM Free Admission Organised in cooperation with the German Embassy and LagosPhoto, Goethe-Institut Nigeria presents the epic and intriguing works of Wolf Böwig’s report on West African Civil Wars. A renowned war photographer, Wolf Böwig travelled extensively in West Africa and reported on many of the conflict zones in the region. Together with the novelist Carlos Mendes, he published many articles. In this exhibition, fifteen graphic storytelling artists from all over the world joined the project by merging writings and photographs with drawings - stories of daily 13 life and survival during the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Ivory Coast. The result is a combination of photographs, literary texts, and graphic novels. The exhibition officially opens as part of LagosPhoto on Saturday 13th September at 3 PM and will remain at the Federal Government Press until the 27 October. Makoko Now African Artists’ Foundation 54 Raymond Njoku Street Off Awolowo Road Ikoyi 13 October - 10 November 2012 Opening Reception 18 October, 4-6 PM (Gallery Hop) Free Admission Makoko is an historic fishing village in Lagos, Nigeria, that is home to an estimated 80,000 residents. Over a hundred years old, Makoko consists of makeshift huts and structures built on stilts above Lagos Lagoon. Widely considered Lagos’ poorest slum, the government of Lagos State commenced the demolition of the shanty settlement on 16 June 2012 after giving residents a seventy-two hour eviction notice. As a result, thousands of residents have been displaced by the ongoing demolition of the community, some resorting to living and sleeping in their canoes. As part of LagosPhoto 2012, LagosPhoto Projects launched with a trip to Makoko to document the demolition of Lagos’ most notorius slum. A group 14 of twelve local and international photographers, videographers, and journalists traveled together to the heart of the village’s ongoing destruction. As part of LagosPhoto 2012’s theme “Seven Days in the Life of Lagos,” LagosPhoto Projects was created to react to urgent social events that are changing the cultural landscape in Nigeria. LagosPhoto Projects consists of excursions with emerging and established photographers and journalists to document as a group the very essence that makes the city such a unique place. The Makoko Project Team traveled by canoe through the village to document the demolition and its effect on the community. Photographers and videographers documented huts that were already torn down as well as the destruction that is continuing to take place, while others tweeted live the visual descriptions of their experience. While the team witnessed displacement and destruction as a result of the ongoing demolition, they also witnessed a cohesive social community. There are churches, schools, music stores, hair salons and photo studios; all the signs of a vibrant cultural environment. Makoko Now has since taken on a life of its own, with other photographers joining in with their own photographic projects of Makoko.