The Artmiabo International Art Festival, AMIAF, did prove a unique point during its 2025 edition which is that art has the required potential to boost Nigeria’s ailing economy.
The festival, themed around the intersection of art, technology, commerce, and global influence, held at the Admiralty Conference Center, Victoria Island Lagos.
Founded by Ngozi Miabo Enyadike and curated by Yusuf Durodola, the 4th edition of AMIAF festival held from April 29th to May 1st, with an exquisite VIP opening night hosted by Möet Hennessy.
Themed ‘Artconomy– Redefining the Global Art Experience’, the annual event showcased stunning contemporary art exhibits that spoke eloquently of the rare talents Africa is endowed with.
Artists, curators, collectors, industry stakeholders and other guests who turned out in droves, enjoyed fruitful networking opportunities with global art investors and industry leaders, while savouring the offerings from Moet Hennessy.
AMIAF, which debuted four years ago, has transformed into a viable platform for both established and emerging artists to showcase their work to a global audience, while exploring innovative ways to monetize and scale art careers.
Having works of art masters such as pa Bruce Onobrakpeya, Dr Kolade Oshinowo, Nike Okundaye, Duke Asidere, Sam Ebohon, Steve Ekpenisi, Sam Ovraiti, and other iconic artists displayed, added a touch of class to the entire festival.
Stunning works exhibited
Pa Bruce Onobrakpeya, who was unable to hide his excitement about the quality of works showcased, described the festival as “fantastic, very good”. He spoke further about the festival. “I have artworks and also I have a group which is called the Harmattan workshop and their works are scattered all over the place. We’ve been doing this for 27 years. We’ve been training artists who have been working together for 27 years. But these are my first works. This one and some other two works are my first works. The exhibition is excellent. It’s first class and it’s like any good exhibition that you can find in most developed parts of the world. So, it’s a really, really good show. I’m so proud of it.”
The nonagenarian exhibited his historical pieces including, Awana (Rattle) Large 1978; Uloho Biemure 1, (large) plastocast 1981; Egbene 1 (large) plastocast 1985; Egbene 11 (large) Marble Finish 1987; Edjokpa 111 (Large) Plastocast 1985; and Bovine Statue with a Piper (large)Plastocast 1986.
And from Dr Kolade Oshinowo, there were ‘Hopeful’ 2019, ‘African Pride’ 2019 and others.
Other artists who made up the 110 exhibitors include, Sanusi Olatunji, Stephen Olukowi Kayode, Kames Hannah, Simon Ekezi, Wallace Ejoh, Nedenu Happiness, Oguntoye Oluwatobi, Obafemi Oluwatoyin and a host of others.
Africans are very creative, no doubt. While the exhibiting artists did wonders with their crafts, the organisers were no less creative. Hardly will you observe any of the featured works without being welcomed by a beautiful piece of work at the entrance of the hall. Titled ‘Multi-tasking from A-Z’, (Steel, typewriter and acrylic), Adeola Balogun’s work shows a young lady in corporate attire with hands on her typewriter. Her beautifully weaved African hairstyle, tells you how ingenious the artist is. Considering the job specification of people in her profession, she welcomes viewers to the exhibition hall.
Obafemi Oluwatoyin’s “Burnished Grace”- fiberglass and metal work of a beautifully adorned female head, will also wow any observer anytime.
While the over 150 art works that featured in 2025 AMIAF were all outstanding, there were ones that easily caught viewers’ attention. A huge Alligator of about 6 meters was on the floor with mouth agape, probably about to devour a prey, was a must see. Stationed very close was also a huge giraffe of about 11ft, with its kids on its back. Those were works of
Sculptor Abu Momogima. “The works I brought are mainly scrap metal assemblages, and I exhibited five items. We have the alligator, which is a 6 feet piece titled “Agbakanogieze”, he explained. The work was inspired by a historical belief inculcated in him by his mother. He added, The other work, the giraffe and her kids is titled “Mother is Supreme”. You can see the kids misbehaving on top of the mother. They don’t even know what the mother is doing to defend them. There’s no appreciation. If you look at what some children are doing in our country today because they have their parents backing, you’ll wonder what will happen to them when those parents leave.”
The artist who likes telling folklore stories and documenting history, exhibited the largest pieces at the festival. Asked why he does massive works he said, “That’s the best way I think I could express myself because the story I want to tell is not a story that you go and hide under the bed. I want it to be conspicuous even from afar.” More interesting is his choice of scrap metals which is simply to encourage recycling.
On an impressive note, the festival showcased works with diverse visual narratives, themes and messages covering the state of the nation, personal stories, as well as works celebrating women and children. There were also works calling attention to the plight of Nigerians such as Stephen Osuchuckwu’s “Story of my story”. Employing charcoal as medium, the amazing piece shows a mother telling moonlight tales while surrounded by children. The award-winning visual artist who graduated from Auchi School of Art, shares more about his craft. “As a sculptor, I love drawing. Drawing has been part of me right from time. And over time, I’ve won awards using the same medium of drawing, especially charcoal. Charcoal is regarded as a waste material in our society, especially using them to roast corn, or to fry akara. But over time, charcoal has been a source of creating wealth. So, I use charcoal to draw. And the inspiration came to me when I couldn’t afford the basic materials for art, like the oil, color, acrylic and all that.” Interestingly, Stephen loves, “drawing women and children because they are the most vulnerable people in society. They are mostly the victims of bad leadership.”
“The story of my story” which took him a maximum of 2 weeks to produce according to him, “Is just me sharing my own story personally to the society, to my environment.
David Debayo’s sculptural pieces were also amazing however, Richard Dickson’ s series, “Ode Ariya- celebrating outing” a 2025 piece, added fun to the show. It was like a comedy corner. His works showed two different funny looking bike men with their wives and children as passengers. Dickson’s “Idle Alayo”- Funny couples 2024 to 2025 work with Clay and Thread are very hilarious. The couples are in matching traditional attires or Aso Ebi as they are called in Nigeria, with funny looking spectacles.
Well-framed paintings by children from Makoko, a suburb in Lagos, were impressive. The children who depicted their environment in their paintings were led to the festival by their trainer, Damilola Moses, an artist based in Lagos. Damilola who has been practicing art since 2010, is a painter working with oils. Damilola relives his journey towards turning children in Makoko into creatives. “It was in 2014/15 that I went to the community of Makoko solely for photographs for my painting production. When I got to the community I saw the harsh living conditions of the people there, especially the kids. I got the permission to teach the kids and help them discover their God-given talents, especially in the area of arts.
In fact, the Bale of the community gave me his living room to start the lesson. And that was in 2015. So far so good; we’ve had two of our students given admission in the University of Lagos to study art. So, today we have beautiful works of the kids on display. There are five paintings (acrylic on paper), well framed, by the kids. So, it’s a great privilege for us to be showing in this prestigious art fair.”
Also, a section of the massive hall had handcrafted works such as clothes, bags, jewelries and more, made with local materials.
The Essence of AMIAF 2025
A fine artist herself, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Artmiabo International Art Festival, AMIAF, Enyadike has for the last four years, been standing up for underrepresented artists. For her, AMIAF is an idea, the idea of an artist being a brand, being autonomous.
According to her, “For the last four years, I have organised artists that are not well represented. We give them a three-day pop-up where they enjoy publicity. We get the collectors to come and see their works and buy, thereby showcasing their talent and creativity to the world. “The reason why I founded AMIAF is because I happen to be an unrepresented artist and I know how difficult it is to represent yourself. And so, I felt that with the huge talent that we have in Nigeria, there are so many artists that need help. And you know they reach out to me online and DM, Ma, can you put me on your blog? Can you help me with this? Can you do that for me? And I thought that if I could bring them together as a collective, I think there’ll be better awareness; other organizations will see them and pick them and put them in their own functions and events. That’s what has been happening for the last four years. If we put you in AMIAF, you’re busy the whole year,” she said.
Speaking about the theme of the festival, she said, “The first time we started, we had ‘Remake the World’, which was on recycling. The second one was the ‘Art of Afrobeats’, which was a juxtaposition of Afrobeat artists and Afrobeat fine artists. And then the third one was the ‘Sculptor’s Odyssey’, which is the journey of the sculptor. This year’s edition is Artconomy. The reason why we decided to expand in terms of space and artists, is because we have 110 artists exhibiting, because we want to tell Nigerians and the world as a whole that the artists contribute to the economy. Yes, we contribute to the GDP whether they like it or not. And there are a lot of artists here that have so many things that they are doing that trickle down in terms of mentorship, in terms of even funding and paying fees for kids, taking care of kids through arts building. And so, I felt that there was a need for us to come together as a community and speak with one voice, which is AMIAF and say this is us, we can sell in the millions and in the billions like we hear all the other people doing and that’s very possible.”
Enyadike is more concerned about the country having more collectors. “You have to understand that art is money. When you buy art, you’re saving money because art appreciates. Nobody can say this is the price of anything. It’s actually an emotion that you’re selling. For art, an art work that I bought for $2, in 10 years’ time, I can sell it for $8,000, $2,000, $10,000,” she said.
For the sector to live its full potential, Enyadike believes the government “Are supposed to create SMEs that support artists because the artist is not going to run away with your money. Artists are very passionate about what they do. Artists create art that they don’t even want to sell. So, when you give them money to create art, you should be rest assured that that art will be created.”
Credit: Vanguard