Across July, August, G.A.S. Foundation hosted three residents whose practices spanned research, performance, installation, and sound, yet converged on shared themes of heritage, ecology, and community. Pelumi Odubanjo traced Afro-Brazilian histories across Lagos, Badagry, and Ibadan, Dr. Ietef Vita rooted his eco-hip-hop practice in Nigerian landscapes, merging music with agroecology, food justice, and ancestral knowledge while engaging local creative and activist communities. Olufela Omokeko deepened his Mobile Food Museum project through sculptural and installation-based works that celebrated Yoruba agricultural identity and reimagined the symbolic weight of everyday tools. Together, their residencies reflect the breadth of experimentation and dialogue nurtured at G.A.S., where artistic practice becomes a means to preserve cultural histories, spark ecological awareness, and foster community resilience.

We are pleased to welcome Ng’onga Silupya, a Lusaka-based curator, cultural practitioner, arts administrator, and art writer, to G.A.S. Lagos for an immersive one-week research residency.  Working across performance, dance, literature, digital culture, ecology, and curatorial research, Ng’onga investigates how contemporary art and cultural heritage can help shape more habitable and equitable societies. Her practice draws on mediation, cultural and visual studies, and art history, engaging narratives and indigenous sustainable practices connected to diverse ethnic groups in Zambia and beyond.

We are pleased to welcome Daniel Minter, an American painter, illustrator, and educator, to G.A.S. Foundation for his residency. His multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, drawing, printmaking, installation, and crafts, often addressing themes of displacement and diaspora informed by his extensive travels across Africa and the wider African Diaspora. Beyond his artistic practice, Daniel is the co-founder and artist director of Indigo Arts Alliance,a Maine-based arts incubator that brings together artists from diverse backgrounds of the African Diaspora to engage in their creative processes. Through multidisciplinary residency and fellowship programs rooted in a Black-led approach to creativity, community-building, and mentorship, the organization's mission addresses the underrepresentation of Black and Brown artists across disciplines in the local, national and global context. 

On September 3rd, 2025, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Picturing Return: Afro-Brazilian Archives in Nigeria, an evening that traced the histories, images, and narratives of the Aguda community and their enduring presence in Nigeria. Bringing together Pelumi Odubanjo whose practice examines the historical and contemporary links between Brazil and the West African diaspora, and scholar, curator, and researcher Oludamola Adebowale, the event explored the living archive of Afro-Brazilian presence in Nigeria

The AAL Lab Convenings, titled Contemporary Art and Archive Practices in Context, are a series of public events that bring together the African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab), its Affiliates Network, and wider audiences to engage in research-sharing and dialogue on contemporary art and archival practice. Informed by the conceptual threads of Re:assemblages 2025–26—Ecotones, The Short Century, Annotations, and The Living Archive—each convening features reflections from invited speakers and the AAL Lab’s inaugural cohort alongside contributions from the broader public.

We are excited to welcome Pelumi Odubanjo, a British-Nigerian curator, writer, and researcher, to G.A.S. Lagos as our last resident in August. Based between London and Glasgow, Pelumi’s practice spans photography, multidisciplinary research, curatorial work, and ecology. Currently a PhD candidate in History of Art at the University of Glasgow and a James McCune Smith Scholar, her work engages with photographic archives, artists, and cultural artefacts to explore dialogues across global Black diasporas and geographies.

In 2024, Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation and Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) were awarded a $220,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art. The two-year funding supports CULTIVATION: Art, Environment & Materiality at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, offering residencies for American-based artists exploring ecology, agriculture, and sustainable material practices. The first artist in residence was Dr. Ietef Vita, who joined G.A.S. in August 2025.

From June 30th to July 11th, 2025, the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ hosted My Story of Food: On The Farm!, a two-week creative learning programme in partnership with the Five Cowries Arts Education Initiative (FCI). Bringing together teachers and students from St. John’s Primary School Ikiṣẹ, the programme transformed their classrooms into a collaborative space where food, art, and storytelling intertwined. Guided by Titilayo Mathias of FCI, with support from St. John’s teachers, sessions explored indigenous foods, food systems, and sustainability through hands-on workshops in doodling, stitching, and paper craft. Alongside nurturing creativity, critical thinking, and tactile skills, the programme also supported teachers with co-learning and facilitation models.

On August 29th, 2025, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Open House, featuring a film screening of Soundtrack to a Coup d’État alongside a presentation that offered a closer look into the Foundation’s mission and opportunities. The evening brought together both new and returning audiences, fostering conversation and offering deeper insight into G.A.S. Foundation’s role as a hub for artistic research, collaboration, and exchange.

Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr Ietef Vita to G.A.S. Foundation for an immersive eight-week residency. Based in the United States, Ietef is an eco-hip-hop artist, educator, and vegan chef whose work rooted in Pan-African traditions bridges music, environmental activism, and ancestral foodways. Known professionally as DJ Cavem, his multidisciplinary practice spans painting, performance, sound, music, film, photography, textiles, and ecology. He harnesses hip-hop as a catalyst for climate justice, youth empowerment, and wellness, creating projects that range from multimedia albums and food justice curricula to international workshops fusing beat-making with soil science, herbalism, and culinary arts.