Last week, we welcomed multidisciplinary artist and photographer Rachel Anyo for a six-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos. Based in Israel, Rachel’s practice spans installation, photography, and textile arts, exploring identity, femininity, and cultural heritage. Blending traditional Ethiopian weaving techniques with digital collage and photography, she creates layered visual compositions that reinterpret personal and collective histories, challenging conventional narratives of belonging and representation.

Guest Artists Space Foundation (G.A.S.) in partnership with the Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) is thrilled to announce the pilot edition of the Ìmòra Arts Intensive, an initiative designed to support the professional development of emerging local artists. The programme takes its name from the Yoruba words Ìmòra (support, guidance, mentorship) and ìmò ẹkọ (acquisition of knowledge or skill-building). Structured as a one-week intensive, held at G.A.S. Lagos from 9th to 13th June 2025, it will provide practical training for ten early-career visual fine artists. Through a series of workshops led by industry professionals, participants will develop essential skills for navigating the art world.

Join us at G.A.S. Lagos on March 27th, 2025, for Weave Lab – Experimental Creation of Textiles, a hands-on weaving workshop led by Nathalie Eggenschwiler, alongside textile designer Khadija Dikko and architectural designer Omotoke Joseph. Rooted in Nathalie’s residency research on textile traditions and cross-cultural craftsmanship, the workshop explores weaving as both a technical skill and a creative process, experimenting with materials, techniques, and new possibilities in textile art.

Guest Artists Space Foundation offers PhD placement residencies to support practice-led researchers, academics, and artists engaged in innovative, interdisciplinary research. These residencies provide a unique opportunity to immerse in Lagos’ dynamic cultural and artistic landscape, fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue and creative exploration. The first PhD placement resident at G.A.S. Foundation was Jonn Gale, a Bulgarian-Nigerian ethnobotanist and PhD candidate at Birkbeck, University of London, who began her 12-week residency in 2025.

Earlier this week, we welcomed London-based artist Gaia Ozwyn for an immersive four-week residency at G.A.S. Lagos. Working across painting and sculpture, her multidisciplinary practice explores materiality, belonging, and ‘otherness’ by blending tactile and visual contrasts. Through her work, she navigates an imagined ‘borderland’ between states of being, challenging conventional ideas of solitude, connection, and identity.

Kɔηsεt Pāti is the fifth project to be realised as part of the Art Exchange: Moving Image programme, running from 20th February to 15th March 2025. Its title references a Ghanaian television show that aired from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Curated by Abbey IT-A and hosted at the former Marvels Mini Golf Course, adjacent to Mmofra Place in Dzorwulu, Accra, the project playfully reinterprets the concept of the “moving image.” Through an exhibition strategy that shifts between screen-based and physical space, Kɔηsεt Pāti transposes the audiovisual aspirations of two films, exploring the relationship between virtual representation and embodied experience.

In this update, we celebrate the continued success and growth of our alumni, whose work spans diverse mediums and compelling themes. From powerful solo exhibitions to prestigious fellowships and international recognitions, our community of artists continues to push boundaries and make significant strides in their careers. Read on to discover the latest developments from G.A.S. alumni as they engage with new contexts, expand their creative practices, and spark important conversations through their art.

Join us on March 20, 2025, for The Clay Women of Ìgànrán, a virtual residency presentation by Bisila Noha, reflecting on her research and experiences at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise. Over the course of her six-week residency, Bisila spent time with a family of women potters in Iganran, a city in Ogun State, Nigeria, immersing herself in their traditions, techniques, and ways of being. Through hands-on learning, close observation, and shared moments of laughter and work, she explored the rhythm of their practice, one shaped by generations of knowledge, resilience, and ritual.

In January and February 2025, G.A.S. Foundation hosted a dynamic cohort of residents whose diverse practices spanned ceramics, textiles, dramaturgy, ethnobotany, and sculpture. Spanish-Equatoguinean artist Bisila Noha explored Nigerian pottery traditions, collaborating with local women potters and researching the intersections of craft and movement. Swiss designer Nathalie Eggenschwiler engaged with Nigerian textile artisans, fostering cross-cultural exchanges in design and sustainability. Playwright and director Eva-Maria Bertschy examined the trade history of African (Swiss) lace, connecting Lagos’ markets with European production networks. Ethnobotanist Jonn Gale investigated decolonial approaches to botanical archiving, collaborating with healers and conservationists. Tilga Art Fund-supported sculptor, Ugo Ahiakwo deepened his material explorations. Their residencies underscored G.A.S. Foundation’s role as a catalyst for critical discourse, collaboration, and artistic innovation.

Join us at G.A.S. Lagos on March 13th and 14th, 2025, for Indulgence Before Consequence, a solo exhibition of new sculptural works by Ugo Ahiakwo, created or completed during his six-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, Lagos. Through an intuitive yet deliberate engagement with materials—layered fabrics, metals, and automotive paints—Ugo explores the tension between impulse and restraint, revealing the lasting imprint of choice. The exhibition reflects a deep preoccupation with the interplay of desire, cause and effect, and transformation, capturing the moments where action precedes reflection. The works serve as both a meditation and a record of these complexities, inviting viewers to consider the delicate balance between indulgence and consequence.

Bisila Noha, a London-based ceramicist, completed a six-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, exploring Nigerian ceramic traditions. She engaged with potters in Ayobo, studied sacred sites in Ilorin and Osogbo, and experimented with local materials at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ. Her residency culminated in Ile Ọkàn – A Gathering at the House of the Soul, a temporary clay and brick installation inspired by Igbo Mbari houses, celebrating the intersection of art, spirituality, and community.