What We Carry, by Freda Osayuki Igiogbe (@fredarchives ) 01–03 May Over three days, the exhibition became a place to sit with Freda’s work up close and spend time with the references behind it. Conversations moved between memory, belief, and the things we carry without always realising. Clay is part of how Freda works through what she’s carrying. Through a slow, repetitive process, forms emerge and shift over time. Having the sketchbooks there made it easier to see how each piece develops. People were drawn to different things, from the textures and details in the work to the expressions in the figures and the stories behind them. What We Carry continues through a limited number of commissions.

Freda’s work in a lived space. Outside of the exhibition setting, smaller details, textures and expressions begin to reveal themselves more slowly over time.

Upcoming and ongoing exhibitions for this week. The Courtauld (@courtauld ) Charing Cross Georges Seurat ‘Seurat and the Sea’ 13 Feb-17 May  | Tickets online Photo London 2026 (@photolondonfair ) Olympia 14 May - 17 May | Off peak tickets from £20 Guest Project (@guestprojectspace ) Hackney Downs Silvana Trevale (@silvanatrevale ) ‘VENEZUELAN YOUTH’ 07 May - 30 May | Free Entry Ginny on Frederick (@ginnyonfrederick ) Farringdon Lara Nazshahnavaz (@lara_nazshahnavaz ), ‘Dust’ 08 May - 12 Jun | Free entry Camden Art Centre (@camdenartcentre ) Finchley Road Donald Locke (@donaldlockestudio ) ‘Resistant Forms’ 10 Apr - 30 Aug | Free Entry

Some moments from What We Carry by Freda Osayuki Igiogbe. It was great to see the different conversations and responses the work created across the weekend.

I feel incredibly blessed to be able to constantly show this body of work in different ways. During my final year, I remember mentioning to my tutors that I want to show the works for as many times as I can and just talk to people about my work and what inspires my practice. What We Carry explores themes of duality, how experience transforms us, while the rituals we return to each day steady and define us. In these repeated gestures, a quiet balance emerges, between change and continuity, becoming and being. The works in the exhibition explores my journey with spirituality, fear, and memory, through clay. The sculptures are extremely personal and intentionally made to appear as though they existed long before me, echoing the timeless nature of the story they tell. Thank you so much to who came to the show to celebrate but also have a conversation with me! I’ve met some more incredibly beautiful & intelligent people and I forever feel grateful for the conversations we had! Also thankful for @lofty.spot for believing in me and prioritising me as an artist 💐💐 This is just the beginning 🥂 I am opening myself up for commissions for this show with a limited edition of six pieces, ranging in scale with prices starting from £750. If you’re interested please contact @lofty.spot

Upcoming and ongoing exhibitions for this week. Ione & Mann (@ioneandmann ) Mayfair Group Show, ‘Could You Come to Me’ 10 Apr - 16 May | Free Entry Cedric Bardawil (@cedricbardawil ) Soho Paul Housley (@paul.housley ), ‘Echo’s Raft’ 10 April – 16 May | Free entry Vivienne Roberts Projects (@vivienne.roberts.projects ) Hatton Garden Sara Lee Roberts (@saraleerobertsart ) ‘Echoes and Reflections’ 05 May - 19 Jun | Free entry Soft Opening (@soft_opening ) Bethnal Green Dean Sameshima (@dean_sameshima ) ‘Wonderland’ 27 Mar – 23 May | Free Entry Pippy Houldsworth Gallery (@pippyhouldsworthgallery ) Mayfair Nengi Omuku (@nengiomuku ) ‘We Were Like Those Who Dreamed’ 01 May - 30 May  | Free Entry

What We Carry opens this Friday. Freda Osayuki Igiogbe 1–3 May London

Upcoming and ongoing exhibitions for this week. Specific Objects Projects (@specificobjectsprojects ) Bethnal Green Group Show, ’PAPER TOWER 2.0’ 30 Apr | Free Entry Lofty Spot(@lofty.spot ) Fitzrovia Freda Osayuki Igiogbe (@fredarchives ) ‘What We Carry’ 01 May - 03 May | Free Entry Phillida Reid (@phillidareid_grapestreet ) Covent Garden Armando d. Cosmos (@arma.ndo.2026 )‘Der Sturm’ 24 Apr – 23 May | Free entry Royal Academy of Arts (@royalacademyschools ), Mayfair Obi Agwam (@obi.agwam ), ‘Love Letters to You and Me’ 01 May - 24 May | Free entry Hew Hood (@hewhoodgallery ) Spitalfields Elías Peña Salvador (@ssalvadoreliass ) ‘West of the Sun’ 30 Apr - 30 May  | Free Entry

A series of clips Freda captured over 9 months of researching, drawing, making and refining her process. Returning to the work over time.

Meet Freda Osayuki Igiogbe (@iitsfreda ), the artist behind What We Carry. Freda was born and raised in Nigeria before moving to the UK. Her work draws from the overlap of cultural and spiritual belief systems she grew up around, shaping both how she understands belief and the forms she returns to. Working in clay, she builds and reworks figures through a slow, tactile process. The act of making becomes a form of ritual, where through repetition and touch, she sits with ideas that don’t easily align, allowing them to take form rather than forcing resolution. At first glance, the sculptures can feel playful, with soft forms and bold features. But the longer you spend with them, the more they begin to shift, holding fragments of memory, ritual and inherited experience beneath the surface. What We Carry reflects this. An ongoing process of returning, reworking, and making sense of what is carried over time.

Upcoming and ongoing exhibitions for this week. Bolanle Contemporary(@bolanlecontemporary ) Mayfair Osman Yousefzada (@osmanstudio ) ‘A Home That Will Not Behave’ 10 Apr - 26 Apr | Free Entry Bernard Jacobson Gallery (@jacobsongalleryofficial ) Soho Group Show, ’British Art: Part 1’ 07 Apr - 08 May | Free Entry Pilar Corrias (@pilarcorriasgallery ) Mayfair Alyina Zaidi (@alyinazaidi ) ‘Rewilding’ 13 Mar - 23 May  | Free Entry Whitechapel Gallery (@whitechapelgallery ), Whitechapel Veronica Ryan, Multiple Conversations 01 Apr - 14 Jun | £8.85 w/ArtPass Welcome Collection (@wellcomecollection ) Euston ‘The Coming of Age’ Group Show 26 Mar – 29 Nov | Free entry

V&A East Museum (@vam_east ) has opened in Stratford, with ‘The Music Is Black: A British Story’ among its inaugural exhibitions. The show explores 125 years of Black music making in Britain across different mediums, highlighting the importance of archiving. Not one to miss!