In May and June, G.A.S. Foundation welcomed residents whose practices spanned sound, literature, photography, visual storytelling, and archival research. Over the course of three to eight weeks, Shatha Afify, Nengi Nelson, Nina Gilbert, Savannah Woodson, and Dr. Tinashe Mushakavanhu immersed themselves in Lagos and beyond, engaging in research, fieldwork, workshops, and public dialogue that explored pressing questions around memory, identity, and collective imagination. Their time with G.A.S. culminated in presentations, open studios, and community-centred events that strengthened exchanges between artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners across local and diasporic networks.
Egyptian interdisciplinary artist, storyteller, poet, and thinker Shatha Afify continued developing The Silenced Score, a speculative sound-based project that investigates overlooked histories across North and West Africa. Building on earlier research rooted in the Egyptian-Libyan desert, her six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos expanded the project’s scope to Nigeria’s sonic and cultural landscapes. Shatha recorded ambient sounds in Makoko and Lagos Port, travelled to Osogbo and Kano to explore ritual sound traditions and oral histories, and engaged in studio visits where she engaged with various artists, cultural workers, and archivists. Her time in Lagos also involved visits to Jazzhole and the Goethe-Institut, where conversations around independent publishing and memory-making enriched her approach to storytelling through sound.
Shatha Afify in conversation with Tundun and Kunle Tejuosho, founders of Lagos' iconic book and record store, Jazzhole
In the final weeks, she hosted Crafting for Tomorrow: Turn Your Writing into a Book at 16/16, guiding participants through DIY bookmaking using RISO-printed covers and personal texts. As part of the Ìmòra Arts Intensive, she led a professional portfolio-building session for emerging artists. The residency concluded with an artist talk in collaboration with the Lagos Sound Collective, where Shatha explored listening as an act of care and resistance. Shatha Afify’s residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.
Shatha Afify during a studio visit with Lagos-based artist, Mr Danfo
Lagos-based freelance photographer and visual storyteller Nengi Nelson undertook a three-week residency dedicated to expanding her series All the Places I Have Lived, which reflects on the meaning of home in the context of reverse migration and transitional living. Her stay included a visit to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where the rural setting offered a slower rhythm for reflection and experimentation. Throughout her residency, Nengi engaged Lagos’ urban landscape and its creative community, connecting with fellow photographers Yagazie Emezi and Amanda Iheme for exchanges around narrative form, identity, and vulnerability in visual storytelling. Her residency culminated in Residency Open Studio, a presentation of three photography projects from different stages of her career. Guiding guests through each body of work, Nengi fostered dialogue around memory, identity, and the evolving nature of home.
Nengi Nelson with art installer, Enoiola Teslim, setting up to install work for her Residency Open Studio event.
Nina Gilbert, a published illustrator, practising artist, and emerging art historian entering her final year at Spelman College, joined G.A.S. Lagos for an eight-week internship supported by Spelman College and the Atlanta University Centre Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective (AUC Collective). Combining illustration, field research, and curatorial inquiry, Nina’s practice centres on diasporic art forms and the preservation of Black art and ideas. During her internship, she contributed to the planning and delivery of the AAL Lab & Conference while advancing research tied to her thesis. She shadowed the development of residency programming and the Re:assemblages project on The Short Century Intensive with Yinka Shonibare Foundation's Associate Curator and Archivist, Naima Hassan. She also attended cultural events such as Ojude Oba. The experience strengthened her understanding of public programming, cross-cultural collaboration, and the role of community engagement in shaping the arts ecosystem.
Image of just Nina and Savannah was taken during a visit to St. John's Primary School, Ikise, during the My Story of Food workshop.
Savannah Woodson, a contemporary artist and Art History major from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, also joined G.A.S. Lagos for an eight-week internship supported by Spelman College and the AUC Collective. Known for her figurative works celebrating Blackness and life, Savannah expanded her understanding of global artistic movements through research, gallery and museum visits, and dialogue with local artists. Her internship focused on residency event planning and supporting G.A.S.’s public programs, providing hands-on experience in arts administration while deepening her own visual storytelling practice. This cross-cultural exchange informed her vision of curating meaningful encounters with African diasporic art and connecting communities across geographies.
Nina and Savannah with Eyo Masquerades, in Odogbolu, Ogun state.
Zimbabwean writer, scholar, and curator Dr. Tinashe Mushakavanhu joined G.A.S. Lagos as one of two recipients of the 2025 G.A.S. Fellowship awards. Known for his exploration of African literary histories, radical publishing, and the politics of archives, Tinashe used his residency to develop The Faculty of Arts, a project imagining fiction as a tool for archival inquiry through the lens of Dambudzo Marechera’s The Black Insider. As part of the project, he began producing Precision, a one-off publication combining archival material, speculative writing, and visual experimentation. His residency facilitated rich exchanges with Lagos’ literary and artistic networks, including the University of Lagos, Jazzhole, Booksellers in Ibadan, CBAAC, and 16/16, fostering conversations at the intersection of text, image, and critical imagination. During his stay, he was also named a recipient of the Olongo Africa Black Orpheus Fellowship. Dr. Tinashe Mushakavanhu’s residency was generously supported by Deutsche Bank.
Dr. Tinashe Mushakavanhu with facilitators of Olongo Africa’s Black Orpheus Fellowship Programme.