As ART X Lagos enters its second decade, its 11th edition turns to the histories, knowledge systems and creative traditions that continue to shape contemporary artistic practice. Taking place from 5 to 8 November 2026 at the Federal Palace in Lagos, the fair adopts the theme “A New Chapter, A New Decade,” drawing inspiration from the artists, architects, educators and thinkers who shaped modernism in Nigeria.

Founded by Tokini Peterside-Schwebig in 2016, ART X Lagos has developed into an international platform for contemporary art and culture from Africa and its diaspora. This year’s theme considers how artists engage with inherited histories and cultural knowledge without treating tradition as something fixed or removed from the present. Instead, it examines how these inheritances are reinterpreted, challenged and carried into new forms of expression.

Across exhibitions, installations, film, music, conversations and educational programmes, the fair approaches cultural inheritance as an ongoing process. Its programme places historical figures and artistic traditions in conversation with contemporary practices, while considering the relationships between local knowledge, international exchange and different generations of artists.

15 Galleries Across the Main and Spotlight Sections

ART X Lagos 2025. Courtesy of ART X Lagos

The 2026 edition will bring together 15 galleries across its Main and Spotlight sections. The Main Section includes Affinity Art Gallery, Afriart Gallery, Alexis Galleries, AMG Projects, Gallery 1957, kó, Kokopelli Gallery, Nike Art Gallery, O’DA Art, SMO Contemporary Art, TAFETA and Yenwa.

The Spotlight Section features Adegbola Gallery, Nomadic Art Gallery and Windsor Gallery, with focused presentations by emerging Nigerian galleries.

Together, the exhibitors offer a range of perspectives on contemporary art across Africa and its diaspora, creating a setting for encounters between established practices and newer gallery voices.

ART X ICON: Looking Beyond Ladi Kwali’s Legacy

ART X Icon; Ladi Dosei Kwali (1925 to 1984). Courtesy of ART X Lagos

A central presentation of the 2026 edition is Ladi Kwali: Beyond the Vessel, an exhibition dedicated to Nigerian potter Ladi Dosei Kwali (1925–1984). Conceived and developed by curator Dr Jareh Das, the exhibition moves beyond familiar accounts of Kwali’s career to examine her artistic innovations, inherited knowledge and influence on subsequent generations.

The presentation brings together ceramics and archival materials from the National Museum in Lagos, alongside works from private lenders. It places Kwali’s practice in conversation with those of women potters who worked alongside and after her, including Kande Ushafa and Asibi Ido, as well as traditional pottery by Gbari, Nupe and Bida potters.

This approach considers Kwali not only as an individual artist but also as part of a wider history of making and knowledge transmission. It raises questions about the relationship between traditional craft and contemporary art, particularly the recognition of women’s contributions to artistic knowledge and the conditions through which their work enters institutional histories.

The accompanying ART X ICON Masterclass extends this inquiry into artistic education. Bringing 10 emerging artists into dialogue with Kwali’s legacy through workshops and conversations with leading figures in African art, the programme considers how knowledge is learned, adapted and passed between generations.

Special Projects: History, Memory and Movement

The fair’s special projects extend its engagement with history and cultural memory through installation, research and participatory experiences. Among them is Residues of Past Encounters, 2024–2026 by Ndidi Dike, curated by N’Goné Fall. Centred on the weathered wreck of a capsized canoe, the installation reflects on the history of Badagry’s Point of No Return and the continuing legacies of displacement. Suspended fabric and a mirrored surface bring histories of forced movement and loss into relation with their present-day consequences.

ART X Library 2025 Courtesy of ART X Lagos

The ART X Library, curated by Missla Libsekal, creates another space for engaging with the year’s theme. Rather than functioning solely as a display of books and resources, it invites visitors to consider access to knowledge, shared research and reading as part of a wider cultural exchange.

Speakers’ Corner takes a different form through Moving Parts, an immersive sound and image installation by artist and producer Yinka Bernie, co-curated by Papa Omotayo and Fikayo Adebajo. Inspired by Lagos’s pedestrian bridges, the project considers how people, places and histories intersect. Its focus on shared movement connects the everyday infrastructure of the city with broader questions about collective experience and the futures shaped through social interaction.

Film, Music and Conversations Across the Fair

ART X Cinema 2025 Courtesy of ART X Lagos

ART X Cinema will move away from a dedicated screening space, integrating moving-image works into exhibitions and other areas of the fair. One featured presentation is Mothers of Chibok (2024) by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Joel ‘Kachi Benson, accompanied by a conversation with the director. A documentary on Ladi Kwali will also form part of the program, extending the fair’s attention to artistic legacy through film.

ART X Live! 2025 Courtesy of ART X Lagos

ART X Live! returns with an experimental programme connecting music and visual art through the work of young African creatives.

ART X Talks 2025 Courtesy of ART X Lagos

ART X Talks will host discussions on contemporary art across Africa and its diaspora, including conversations on Kwali’s legacy, Dike’s Residues of Past Encounters and Benson’s film.

ART Across Boarders 2025 Courtesy of ART X Lagos

Art Across Borders also returns, bringing together five artists from five African regions and the Caribbean. The programme features Georgina Maxim (Zimbabwe), Ghizlane Sahli (Morocco), Kaloki Nyamai (Kenya), Kiluanji Kia Henda (Angola) and Victor Ehikhamenor (Nigeria). Curated by Fikayo Adebajo, it considers how artists create value collectively, with particular attention to studios and creative spaces that extend beyond individual production to function as workshops, farms, schools and residencies.

The fair will also continue its RESONANCE residency programme, developed in partnership with Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and the French Embassy in Nigeria/Institut Français du Nigeria. The initiative supports Nigeria-based visual artists, designers and curators through three-month residencies in Paris. The 2026 participants are curator Sada Ibrahim Malumfashi, visual artist Timilehin Emmanuel Osanyintolu and designer Orinayo Ayotemi Odubawo.

Art and Learning for Younger Audiences

Schools’ Program 2025 Courtesy of ART X Lagos

ART X Lagos’s educational program brings the year’s focus on artistic inheritance to younger audiences. The Schools’ Programme, developed with multidisciplinary artist and educator Tolulope Ami-Williams in partnership with Teach For Nigeria, uses Kwali’s practice as a starting point for creative learning. It considers how everyday vessels can carry identity, memory and imagination, introducing students to the relationship between material, function and cultural expression.

Family programming will include a participatory installation in which children and other visitors shape coils of clay by hand, contributing to an evolving collective work inspired by Kwali’s practice. Guided Kids’ Tours and other interactive activities will also form part of the program.

As ART X Lagos enters its second decade, “A New Chapter, A New Decade” places the question of inheritance across multiple areas of artistic practice. From the reconsideration of Ladi Kwali’s contribution to the history of ceramics to contemporary explorations of displacement, collective knowledge and urban life, the 11th edition considers how the past remains active in the present. Its program suggests that inheritance is not simply what artists receive, but what they choose to question, transform and make available to those who follow.

ART X Lagos 2026 takes place from 5 to 8 November at the Federal Palace, Lagos, Nigeria.