The on-going Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF), which is in its 20th edition continues today with even more activities.
Starting at 1pm on Tuesday, LABAF will feature a seminar, film screenings and documentaries with discussions based on the film industry and how to keep it going.
Following that, discussions will focus on the issues surrounding authors in Nigeria and ways to get published and stay inspired. The session will start at 2pm, in association with the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and organised by Festac News Publishing and Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC).
At 3pm today, LABAF will focus mainly on art discussions as it launches an art seminar that will address the importance of mentorship in art. This seminar will be in honour of Kolade Oshinowo, one of Nigeria’s foremost artists, to whom this year’s festival is dedicated (alongside filmmaker, Tunde Kelani).
The art seminar will include a panel discussion with artists; Taiye Idahor, Nnegi Omuku and Olumide Onadipe. It will be moderated by Nneoma Ilogu.
Meanwhile, another part of the seminar will feature an interview and Q&A session with the honouree, Kolade Oshinowo, who will be interviewed by Mufu Onifade, an arts writer and painter. In this session, Oshinowo is expected to give insights about the art world to young and aspiring artists who seek to forge ahead in the industry. He will share secrets, tricks and processes based from his experience as an artist for over 45 years.
The seminar will come to an end with a performance by Yusuf Durodola titled “Ogede n baje, a l’onpon”. It is a performance art that aims to engage guests to understand and question the societal issues.
Meanwhile, at 4pm an art exhibiton produced by Asiri Magazine will commence, featuring 20 artworks, 10 of which will focus on Nigeria’s cultural heritage and the others will be based on 1851 bombardment of Lagos by Britain’s Navy. Titled, Colours of Our History, the exhibition will also include a dance drama that expresses the challenges during the war.
Hours after the art discourse and exhibition, LABAF will begin the evening with a poetry experience. Poetry performances will begin at 7pm, coordinated by AJ House of Poetry and Poets in Nigeria (PIN), in conjunction with Artmosphere.
The 20th edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival will take place mainly at Freedom Park, all week long. It began on Monday with the Book Trek event at the British Council.