The city of Lagos has always had colour all it ever needed was someone to take the brush and artfully spread it. One such person is Azu Nwagbogu, the founder and director African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), one of the most iconic art places in the city of Lagos. AAF is a non-profit dedicated to the promotion and development of contemporary African art and artists. Established in 2007, the AAF organises art exhibitions, competitions and workshops to discover and develop talent in Nigeria. In 2008, Nwagbogu founded the National Art Competition (NAC), an annual event that provides a platform to emerging Nigerian artists across the country.
Born Azubuike Nwagbogu, according to Famous Birthdays on February 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2010 he also founded and directs the LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography, which brings together leading local and international photographers. Then there is Art Base Africa, a new virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary African Art and diaspora.
He has been on the jury of several international art awards and curated numerous art exhibitions including the Dutch Doc, POPCAP Photography Awards, and was a nominator for the Discovery Award at the Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival in 2014 as well as Dey Your Lane! Lagos Variations at BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels, Belgium) in 2016, co-curated with Ruth Simbao; Tomorrows/Today at the Cape Town Art Fair (Cape Town, South Africa) in 2016, and Tear My Bra at Rencontres d’Arles (Arles, France), also in 2016.
Nwagbogu, who recently moved the AAF to a bigger place with an artistic soul, lives and works in Lagos. He is a Lagos big boy.
Bet you didn’t know that he is actually a scientist by academic training and came to photography and curating he says, through an elaborate and convoluted manner.