#SAVEAIYETORONOW; This month marks one year since I closed my exhibition, Aiyetoro: Field of Gold, River of Black, supported by @goetheinstitut_nigeria 2024/2025 Support and Connect Funds. What I created then was not just Art; it was a warning, a Cry, a record of a community slowly being Erased.
Today, seeing the first video clips breaks something in me. Because what I feared has only grown worse. The ocean surge has shown no mercy. The people have tried their best, but the Government has refused to intervene. Now, the ocean surge has taken more homes, more histories, more lives. What was once land is now water. What was once a thriving community is becoming a memory.
And still, the #OndoState Government is doing nothing. No real protection. No urgent intervention. Just silence. Just politics.
How much more must be lost before genuine action is taken?
While #Aiyetoro is being swallowed and destroyed, the #OndoState government is caught in disputes over land ownership with #OgunState following the discovery of oil in my late mother’s village, Eba Island. And this is where it becomes unbearable for me. Because that land is not just territory; it holds My Mother body; My Maternal history. Her burial ground. Her memory. Her Peace. Her home.
To imagine that even in death, her resting place could be disturbed in the name of #oil #petroleum extraction… while living communities like #aiyetoro community, Ondo are left to vanish… Is a grief I cannot fully put into words.
I am watching loss unfold on two fronts: one to the sea, one to human decisions. Both avoidable. Both devastating!
This is no longer just about the environment or development. This is about humanity. About dignity. About whether we choose to protect People and Heritage or oil, Profit, and Delay.
#Aiyetoro cannot wait. My mother’s body should not be Displaced! The People Of Aiyetoro should not be Abandoned!
The government must act. Now! Now!! Now!!
#SaveAiyetoroNow #ProtectOurCommunities #RespectOurDead #ActNow
#Chevron #ClimateAction #PrinceClausFund #GoetheInstitut #ClimateJustice #OndoState #environmentalart
Happy Birthday Olufela.
Today, I pause to honor my own becoming. Not just the years counted, but the moments I survived, the risks taken, the quiet growth no one applauded.
I celebrate the version of me that kept going when things were uncertain, when doors stayed closed, when hope felt fragile.
I celebrate my persistence, my imagination, and my ability to create meaning even in scarcity.
This new year is not just about wishes, but about intention. I step into it with courage; to keep building, to keep dreaming, to keep trusting that what I am shaping, slowly and deliberately, will find its place in the world.
May I remain rooted, yet open.
May I find beauty in both abundance and lack.
May I never lose my hunger, for knowledge, for art, for transformation.
Happy birthday to me!
a work in progress, a force in motion, a story still unfolding.
A few days ago, I had the privilege of being invited by @susanlmain_studio to present an artist talk to @cultivateprojects community, a feature highlighted in the @bmoreart #Baltimore Art Journal. This opportunity offered a meaningful moment to reflect on my journey as an independent artist.
During the talk, I spoke about my decision in 2018 to resign from a paid position to fully commit to my artistic practice. I subsequently joined a one-year alternative art school organized by @vernacularartlab , an experience that significantly shaped my perspective and approach. Following this, I took on the roles of Space Manager and later Project Manager within the same communal re-imagination initiative.
I also shared some of the challenges I encountered along the way, as well as a pivotal milestone in my career—the moment I received my first grant and third from the @goetheinstitut_nigeria through the support and connect initiative. This recognition marked a turning point, reinforcing my commitment to sustaining an independent artistic path.
Overall, the experience was both reflective and affirming, allowing me to engage with a dynamic community while revisiting the key moments that have defined my practice.
Link: /events/the-journey-my-past-my-art-and-my-hope
#baltimoreartist #torontoartist #vegetableart #foodart #princeclausfund #landart #artistprojectoronto
I’m truly honored and excited to share that I will be contributing as an artist to #labiennaledivenezia Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, proudly represented by @gasfoundation -Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation. The Biennale Arte 2026, titled In Minor Keys, is presented within the Central Exhibition at the Arsenale and at the Giardini della Biennale.
Being part of such a historic and globally respected platform for contemporary art is a milestone in my creative journey. La Biennale has long been a space where bold ideas, cultural dialogue, and artistic innovation come together; and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute my voice/work- Hoe Courtyard Serie to that conversation.
Thank you to Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation for the trust and support in making this possible.
/News/guest-artists-space-gas-foundation-announces-participation-in-the-61st-international-art-exhibition-of-la-biennale-di-venezia-by-koyo-kouoh
#venicebiennale #labiennaledivenezia #contemporaryartists #nigeriaartist #installationart #agriculturalart #susanmainsgallery #cultivateproject #italyart #iwaya #makoko
2019-Reflection Moment: This marked my first commissioned performance as an Artist—an important turning point that invited me to reflect on my early beginnings and the conditions that shaped my practice.
This work was commissioned by @leon.hoesl_ offering a platform to translate personal memory into a shared sensory experience.
Titled Reconnecting Deep Within, the performance engaged sound as a primary medium, drawing from familiar materials embedded in everyday life in Lagos. I incorporated the piercing call of the newspaper vendor’s horn, the rhythmic hum of a grinding machine, and the sharp, deliberate cuts of London tailor scissors. These elements functioned not only as tools but as sonic triggers—each carrying cultural memory and evoking a return to subconscious experiences shaped by urban living.
Presented within a sound-based exhibition, the performance became an exploration of how ordinary materials can activate collective memory, reconnecting both artist and audience to layered histories, labor, and identity within the Lagosian context.
OLUFELA OMOKEKO
The Journey: My Past, My Art, and My Hope
Artist Talk: March 22, 2 PM EST Zoom
RSVP for zoom link (in bio)
Join us on zoom for a reflective artist talk and discussion with artist Olufela Omokeko that explores his personal and artistic path — from childhood memories and lived experiences to moments of loss, survival, and becoming. Through storytelling and visual references, he will share how art became both a mirror and a refuge, helping him process trauma, question his environment, and reclaim his voice. This talk is also about finding purpose in making, transforming pain into practice, and holding onto hope as a tool for personal healing and collective imagination.
About the Artist: Olufela Omokeko is a self-taught, interdisciplinary Nigerian artist working across performance, installation, photo-video art, and social practice. Since transitioning to full-time artistic practice in 2019 following alternative art education in Lagos, his work critically examines the intersections of personal memory and collective experience within contemporary Nigerian society. His practice engages themes of psycho-social dynamics, mortality, food insecurity, violence, and ecological precarity through community-based and research-driven processes.
Olufela is the founder of Slum Baker Studio, an experimental platform for socially responsive artistic inquiry. His work has been presented in solo projects including Son of a Pepper Seller and Mobile Food Museum Project. He is an alumnus of the G.A.S. Residency Foundation and Pollinator Virtual Residency, and a three-time Goethe-Institute grantee, most recently for Ayetoro: Field of Gold and Rivers Black. His work will be included in the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale as part of Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation exhibition titled, In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh.
Studio Visit @gasfoundation Residency - A moment of reflection and exchange .
Grateful for the discussion, questions and shared energy that continue to shape my practice. Thank you to everyone who visited, listened, and engaged with the work presented- Hoe Courtyard Series.
#gasfoundation #studiovisit #artistresidency #artinprogress #lagosartscene
Here is a filmic documentation of my residency presentation from the two-month residency program with @gasfoundation . I invite you to explore the link below to learn more about my project.
/News/ArtMID/442/ArticleID/822/preview/true
Nigerian interdisciplinary artist Olufela Omokeko (@omokeko ) recently concluded an eight-week residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where he explored the disappearance of local food cultures and the preservation of traditional farming knowledge. 🌾
Drawing from Ebenezer Obey’s 1976 song Operation Feed the Nation, Olufela reimagined the hoe, a key Yoruba agricultural tool, as both a sculptural object and a symbol of resilience.
As his residency concluded, he hosted ‘Hoe Courtyard’ on October 3rd, 2025, welcoming fellow residents, G.A.S. staff, members of the local community, and collaborators who had contributed to his research.
The event centred around a site-specific exhibition featuring installations made from farm tools, market imagery, and materials such as hoes, oil drums, and lambebe trays, inviting guests to reflect on food insecurity, labour, and cultural memory. The evening also included a moving poetic performance by Àrẹ̀mọ Gemini (@aremogemini ).
The event concluded with Olufela guiding guests through the installations, encouraging close engagement with the works and reflection on the histories, sounds, and textures embedded in each piece.
🔗 Read more via the link in bio.
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#gasfoundation #guestartistspace #artistinresidency #photography #culturalexchange #residencyprogram #omokekoolufela #movingimage #archives #hoecourtyard
