In November, we welcomed Dutch-Curaçaoan artist, poet, and activist Quinsy Gario for a month-long residency at G.A.S. Lagos. Working across performance, film, photography, and text, Quinsy’s practice interrogates how histories of enslavement and displacement continue to circulate, emotionally, materially, and politically, tracing suppressed narratives and advocating for justice, recognition, and repair. Quinsy arrived in Lagos at a pivotal moment in his research, focused on human remains discovered in St. Martin, believed to be linked to Nigeria and dated between 1660–1680. His residency offered dedicated time to explore questions of belonging, return, and the ethical responsibilities attached to repatriation. During his stay, he connected with local artists, theatre-makers, poets, and researchers addressing related themes, including colonial memory, slavery, and the politics of preservation.

Guest Artists Space Foundation (G.A.S.), in partnership with the Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.), is thrilled to announce the fourth edition of the prestigious fully funded G.A.S. Fellowship Award. This year’s call, the largest to date, offers five residencies for Nigerian based and diaspora artists/writers and three residencies for artists based in the United States. These opportunities are open to outstanding emerging to mid-career arts professionals.

This round of alumni updates reflects the continued impact of G.A.S. Foundation’s community across artistic, curatorial, and institutional contexts worldwide. From major international prizes and museum acquisitions to curatorial leadership and critical recognition, these milestones speak to the depth, rigor, and ambition of our alumni’s practices. Together, they underscore G.A.S.’s ongoing commitment to supporting research-driven, socially engaged, and globally resonant work—long after each residency, fellowship, or programme has concluded.

Join us at G.A.S. Lagos on December 12th, 2025 for Cultivating Your Creative Purpose, featuring a screening of The Salt of the Earth, a film by German filmmaker and photographer Wim Wenders and Brazilian filmmaker Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, followed by a guided dialogue on developing an artistic practice with Kwadwo Asiedu. The 2014 documentary follows acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado, whose striking black-and-white images have chronicled major moments in recent history. Through the film, viewers will encounter Salgado’s remarkable journeys across continents and his profound engagement with humanity, environment, and storytelling.

Originally aired live during the 2025 Re:assemblages Symposium, this segment, now available on YouTube, offers on-the-ground coverage, audience engagement, and key moments that shaped the event’s atmosphere and discussions.

Earlier this week, a new and slightly different Art Week affair took place: the Re: assemblages symposium, hosted by the Alliance Française de Lagos, organised by the Guest Artists Space and Yinka Shonibare Foundations and curated by Naima Hassan. The event brought together cultural practitioners including artists, curators, archivists and scholars from across Africa and the world in wide-ranging conversations about African and Afro-diasporic art archives. These are The Art Newspaper’s three key takeaways from the event.

Timed to coincide with the Art X Lagos fair, the gathering was initiated by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare and his Guest Artists Space Foundation. The Re:assemblages programme, curated by Berlin-based researcher Naima Hassan, saw contributions from more than 70 African and Afro-diasporic artists, academics and collectors seeking to “reimagine” archives not as “static repositories” but as “dynamic infrastructures for cultural production and exchange”. Events included the launch of the African Arts Libraries Lab, a network connecting institutions and publishers in Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Kenya, Egypt and SA (represented by the African Literary Cities research project at the University of Cape Town).

Notably, the renowned British artist Yinka Shonibare CBE opened Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation in 2019, a nonprofit in Lagos offering artist residencies and public programming by and for artists in the country and across the globe. “Our focus has always been on building long-term cultural infrastructure rather than short-term visibility,” Shonibare explained, pointing out recent initiatives including the foundation’s Ìmòra Arts Intensive, which trains 10 early-career artists in the city. “What I’m seeing internationally is a genuine shift,” he added. “Nigerian art and creativity is no longer treated as a peripheral curiosity, but as a central force in global culture—and that change is driven by the strength of the institutions and networks we are building in Nigeria.”

THE Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation and the Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) convened the inaugural Re:assemblages Symposium on November 4 and 5 at the Alliance Française, Ikoyi, Lagos. The event marked the official launch of the African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab), a new continental network connecting arts libraries, publishers, and cultural institutions across Lagos, Dakar, Marrakesh, and Cape Town, while engaging global institutions that hold African and Afro-diasporic collections.

Over 50 leading artists, archivists, researchers, and cultural practitioners examined how archives shape contemporary cultural memory and artistic production during the programme.

African and Afro-diasporic archives will be celebrated and reinterpreted as part of a major project launching later this year in Lagos, driven by the British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. The Re:assemblages symposium (4-5 November), taking place at Alliance Française de Lagos, will bring together artists, scholars and publishers “to collectively rethink African and Afro-diasporic archives as living, contested and future-shaping spaces,” says a statement.

The symposium is organised by the non-profit Guest Artists Space Foundation (G.A.S.) and Yinka Shonibare Foundation, which were both founded by Shonibare in 2019. The Lagos event is the second edition of Re: assemblages (2025-26), a two-year programme which “reimagines the role of archives in shaping African and global art histories”, the organisers add.

Join us at G.A.S. Lagos on December 9th, 2025, for Art CRIT, an informal critique session facilitated by current resident Sola Olulode. Designed for artists working across various mediums who have felt underserved by traditional critique spaces, the session offers a supportive environment to share practice, exchange ideas, and receive constructive feedback. Sola recognises that many artists may have had limited opportunities for meaningful critique or may have experienced spaces where feedback feels rigid or discouraging. Art Crit at G.A.S. reframes this experience, centring openness, dialogue, and mutual respect.