Art X Lagos, West Africa’s leading international art fair, marks its 10th edition this month under the theme Imagining Otherwise, No Matter the Tide. Reflecting on a decade of artistic growth in Lagos, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, the fair’s founder, says the theme invites artists to envision a more collective future, both at home and across the globe.
“It speaks to the experience of a city like Lagos, and its origins as a land of mangrove—a tree that is synonymous with resilience and adaptability,” Peterside-Schwebig tells The Art Newspaper. “The city has taken on those characteristics in ways that are less obvious to the undiscerning eye.”
Like its home city venue, Art X Lagos has demonstrated considerable resilience. It has reached its 10th edition this year despite enduring economic volatility, a Nigerian currency crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and a general softening of the art market. Peterside-Schwebig recognised the art fair potential of Lagos early on; the city, she says, simply needed “a major catalyst and injection to bring it to the fore in the national consciousness”.
Phenomenally talented artists have been working here for decades
She adds: “There was no shortage of talent amongst artists in the art scene. Nigeria has had phenomenally talented artists working in the country for numerous decades. I wanted to build this bridge that would bring collectors, artists and curators to experience what was happening in Nigeria and to experience the rest of Africa on home soil.”
Ecosystem energiser
The fair has become exactly what she hoped it would be, she says, a platform energising and amplifying the region’s art ecosystem. Each year, Art X Lagos welcomes between 10,000 and 12,000 visitors to the Federal Palace Hotel, a landmark venue best known as the site where Nigeria’s Declaration of Independence was signed. Since its debut in 2016, the fair has helped cultivate a wave of new collectors, fuelling the growth of commercial galleries across the city.
Today, Art X Lagos unfolds alongside a flurry of satellite exhibitions and public programmes—an expansion Peterside-Schwebig welcomes. Adding to Nigeria’s cultural momentum this year is the anticipated public opening of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City this November. The museum campus has been built on the ruins of the ancient Benin City, and surviving architectural features such as walls and gates have been integrated into the new facility.
Deeper engagement
For its 2025 edition, Art X Lagos will feature 15 exhibitors. Eleven of them hail from Lagos, with the remaining four galleries travelling from Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana and the UK. In previous years, the fair hosted nearly twice as many exhibitors, but since 2023 the organisers have intentionally streamlined the selection in response to ongoing economic pressures and a slowdown in the global art market. According to Peterside-Schwebig, the fair’s new slimmed-down format gives participants greater visibility and allows them a deeper engagement with visitors.
Despite the continued soft sales worldwide in the art market, with works from Africa particularly affected, Peterside-Schwebig is optimistic about sales, thanks in part to a strengthening of Nigeria’s currency, the naira. Looking ahead, her goal is for the fair to grow and adapt, not only serving the people of Lagos and Nigeria but also positioning itself as a vital meeting point for those invested in African art and its diaspora.
“I hope that when we look back ten years from now, we’ll see the very real impact this platform has had on the state, future and global potential of art from Africa,” she says.
• Art X Lagos 2025: Imagining Otherwise, No Matter The Tide, Lagos, Nigeria, 6-9 November
