The sound of traffic never really stops in Lagos, but on a busy roadside this week, a group of artists barely noticed the noise. With spray cans and brushes in hand, they worked quietly on large, colourful murals, part of the city’s first-ever Lagos Street Art Festival, which opens on Wednesday.
The organisers say the week-long event will transform Nigeria’s commercial capital into an “open-air gallery”, a bold promise in a country where street art is still a niche, often misunderstood, practice.
Lagos Artists Paint Joy and Struggle
For many of the artists, the festival is a chance to capture the spirit of a city known for both its energy and its challenges. Standing in front of his mural of a dancing woman, artist Ashaolu Oluwafemi, 34, said Lagos is a place where resilience and joy often sit side by side.
“There’s joy, there’s struggle,” he said. “Even when life is hard, you have to stay joyful. You make happiness for yourself.” That mix of hardship and humour is a familiar theme in Nigerian art, echoing the message in Fela Kuti’s famous song Shuffering and Shmiling, which has long served as an unofficial mantra in a country that is both Africa’s most populous and deeply unequal.
This year’s festival theme, “Legendary Lagos, City of Dreams”, invites artists to look beyond the daily frustrations of crime, poverty and congestion, and instead highlight the grit and colour that define everyday life.
Nigerian artist Babalola Oluwafemi, who travelled from Manchester to take part, painted a huge portrait of a woman next to a peacock, a recurring symbol of pride and beauty in Nigerian art. Lagos, he said, is a place “where people love to party, love colour, love food, and love to express themselves.”
Art Festival Arrives Amid Security Concerns and Holiday Celebrations
The festival comes at a tense time for Nigeria. A recent rise in mass kidnappings in the north pushed President Bola Tinubu to declare a “nationwide security emergency.”
Yet in Lagos, the country’s cultural and economic heart, December remains a festive season.
The event coincides with “Detty December”, the annual holiday period when Nigerians from home and abroad return to the city to celebrate, visit family and attend packed social events.
For organisers, that timing means more people will be able to experience the murals up close.
A Growing Street Art Scene in a Changing City
Lagos is already a major West African arts hub, with renowned galleries, museums and a lively creative community. But unlike Dakar, Cotonou or Cape Town, large-scale street art has never fully taken root in the city.
That may be changing.
“I’ve never painted anything like this before,” said Oluwafemi, 32. “Lagos is different, so many cars, so much traffic, and so many people stopping to say, ‘Nice work.’”
Across the city, once-faded walls are now covered with bright colours and bold designs.
Street artist Ernest Ibe said the scene is still relatively small compared with other African cities, but interest is growing fast.
“The visibility is not strong yet,” he said. “But the country is evolving. People are beginning to see the impact of murals and how they shape our social environment.”
One of the festival’s organisers, graffiti artist Osa Okunkpolor, widely known as Osa Seven, said the long-term goal is to put Lagos “on the street art map.”
“Art shouldn’t be limited to galleries,” he said. “Everyone should be able to experience it, right on the street.”