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The LagosPhoto Festival, a long-standing champion of photography as a vital platform for dialogue and critical thought, is evolving into a biennial event. This strategic shift, initiated by the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) after fifteen successful years, is set to commence with its next edition from October 25 to November 29, 2025. This transformation aims to foster deeper exploration, expand programmatic offerings, and amplify its overall influence.

LagosPhoto Festival Unveils Biennial Transformation with "Incarceration" Theme for 2025 Edition

The African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) has officially declared a significant change for the LagosPhoto Festival. Following fifteen years of dedicated service to the photographic arts, the festival will transition from an annual to a biennial schedule. The inaugural biennial event is slated for October 25 to November 29, 2025. This strategic move aims to create a more profound impact, allowing for more in-depth research, broader artistic programs, and an expanded reach. The 2025 edition will center around the theme “Incarceration,” inviting artists to examine the myriad ways confinement, both overt and subtle, societal and personal, restricts marginalized communities. The festival will pose critical questions about how photographic imagery can both expose and challenge existing carceral systems, while also inspiring alternative visions of freedom.

This expanded festival will be hosted across four distinct venues located in the vibrant cities of Lagos and Ibadan. The program will encompass a diverse range of artistic expressions, including solo and collaborative projects, institutional exhibitions, film screenings, and engaging talks. Notably, the expansion into Ibadan marks a new chapter for LagosPhoto, with a specific focus on artworks that engage with the city's unique urban and architectural manifestations of imprisonment. The festival will showcase the works of prominent artists such as Ayobami Ogungbe, who explores the emotional impact of migration through woven series; Geremew Tigabu, capturing spectral landscapes shaped by conflict; and Cesar Dezfuli and Stefan Ruiz, who investigate how portraiture addresses themes of borders and belonging. Yagazie Emezi and Nuotama Bodomo will redefine ethnographic traditions through indigenous knowledge, while Shirin Neshat and Sharbendu De will delve into psychological ruptures and climate futures, respectively.

The AAF's sustained commitment to exploring the dynamic scope of photography is evident in LagosPhoto 2025's embrace of diverse media beyond traditional camera-based work. The festival will feature printed, sculptural, woven, dyed, and performative pieces that seamlessly integrate image, sound, text, film, installation, and archival materials. Artists will critically engage with photography's dual capacity as both an instrument of control and a powerful vehicle for emancipation, addressing complex histories of trauma, displacement, and renewal. As the first biennial iteration, LagosPhoto 2025 is poised to initiate a transformative new phase, building upon its fifteen-year legacy of experimentation while fostering innovative dialogues around invention, resistance, and the pursuit of freedom. The new format will integrate open-call submissions with a carefully curated core program, prioritizing archival research, intertextual practices, and experimental collections. The selected proposals will represent artists from across Africa, its diaspora, and global interconnected networks, with a particular emphasis on the rich linguistic and cultural tapestry of West Africa.

The festival's exhibitions will take place at historically significant locations that have served as sites of community gathering, resistance, and profound transformation. In Lagos, the primary program will activate three key venues: the newly reopened African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) after two years of extensive renovations; the Nahous Gallery, a recent addition within the iconic Federal Palace complex, a site resonant with Nigeria's independence signing and FESTAC ’77; and Freedom Park, a former colonial prison that has been reclaimed as a vital civic landmark. In Ibadan, the biennial will utilize the New Culture Studio, designed by the renowned architect Demas Nwoko in 1970, to explore the urban and architectural dimensions of confinement. Additional satellite venues include the Didi Museum and Alliance Française de Lagos. LagosPhoto 2025 is made possible through the generous support of the Ministry of Art and Tourism, National Geographic, Canon, Open Society Foundations, and Nahous Gallery, in collaboration with local partners Kòbọmọjẹ́ Artist Residency (K-AiR), Madhouse, and Wunika Mukan Gallery.

The transformation of the LagosPhoto Festival into a biennial event is a forward-thinking decision that promises to elevate its impact and thematic depth. By embracing a more extended planning cycle and a focused theme like “Incarceration,” the festival can foster more profound artistic and intellectual engagement. This shift allows artists to delve deeper into complex subjects, resulting in more impactful and thought-provoking exhibitions. The expansion to Ibadan also signals a welcome commitment to decentralizing cultural events and engaging with diverse urban narratives within Nigeria. This initiative offers a vital platform for artists to critically examine societal structures and inspire conversations about freedom and confinement, using the powerful and versatile medium of photography. It demonstrates a belief in art's capacity not only to reflect the world but also to actively shape perceptions and advocate for change.