By Japhet Davidson

The venue was the Thought Pyramid Art Center, Ikoyi, Lagos and the event was the Lagos zone exhibition of the 2025 Life in My City Art Festival (LIMCAF), an annual celebration of creativity.

The exhibition with the theme, “Can We Breathe” which was well attended was declared open on Friday 1st by a Cultural producer and Curator Jumoke Sanwo and will ran till Friday August 8th.

The hall was filled with works in various sizes by the participating artists, mostly students who were on ground to explain their works to the audience. It featured 124 works in various media by 62 promising young artists within the zone.

For the 62 artists that participated, it was a dream come true as the journey to the Cool city for the LIMCAF Gala/award night slated for October has began.

According to the organisers of LIMCAF, which boasts of the largest gathering of young artists, patrons, scholars, gallery owners and other stakeholders in the visual arts in Nigeria, the best 10 out of the 62 works on display will be selected to make up the 100 works that will compete for the overall prize winner and other prizes at the finals.

On the theme of the competition, Can We Breathe, no other theme would have been more appropriate than it based on the economic situation in the country, kudos to the wise men that came up with it. And as expected, most of the artists keyed into the theme as their works depicts the lack of hope, struggle, lamentation, lost and prayers to the almighty God for an intervention etc., while some went their own way to present whatever they liked.

For example, the piece by Olikaeze Maureen Egbuniwe titled It is well, which reveals an NYSC member glad with his crested vest with his cap seated comfortably selling onions and tomatoes. Another piece by Okeke Maduabuchi Precious titled There was a country, depicting what can be seen as Boko Haram or bandits with their guns, that kill, kidnap and rape our women on daily basis.

While declaring the exhibition open, Jumoke commended the young artists for their works which she described as amazing. She stated that she was honoured to declare open the incredible platform that has been going for the past 17 years.

“I am very happy to be here, I am always weary when it comes to encouraging artists. The world has become a global village. Presently, there is a lot going on in the world to promote art. Do not think about your location, just take the opportunity to connect to the wide world.”

She enjoined the artists to “ explore the materials around you so that you can be able to expand your creativity to enable you regain your position in the society.”

In his remarks,the Executive Director, (LIMCAF) Mr Kevin Ejiofor, said “this is one of the 18 exhibitions going on every year in different zones between July and September in Nigeria. The festival will make you to be proud to be called an artists and also help you make a living from your creativity. It had helped many young artists to become something in the art industry today.”

Continuing, he said, “the purpose is for the empowerment of young people and we do that in many ways, financial empowerment, training and exposure to the world where the young people meet with trainers. Apart from the prize money, the best six will have an all expenses paid trip to Dak’ Art biennale festival in Senegal courtesy of one of our sponsors Professor El Anatsui.”

For Okechukwu Eze, the coordinator of the Lagos zone, “it has been challenging, the artists has shown their resilience in interpreting the theme of the festival, Can We Breathe. They have done well.

This is the first stage, we have 124 works from 62 participants selected from over 140 entries and from the 62, the best 10 will be selected for the finals in Enugu where the jury will decide the prize winners.”

Also speaking, the 2023 overall winner Ijiko Kelvin Martin who was also present said, “LIMCAF has become a family to me, it is the platform that developed my art. It has been such a great one, it added value to my portfolio as an artist. I can stand proud to say that I am a beneficiary. It helped me to travel out of the country to Dak’ Art Senegal. That opportunity opened my eyes to more other creativity outside Nigeria.”