Residents at G.A.S. Foundation can book interstate excursions for an additional fee as part of their stay. These trips are designed to provide additional research opportunities, support creative exploration, and offer a chance to connect with the broader cultural and natural landscapes of the South-West region of Nigeria.
Excursions are self-directed, allowing residents to tailor their experience based on personal interests and project needs. Whether visiting nearby cities, historical sites, or natural reserves, these trips can serve as a valuable extension of your residency experience. If you have any questions or need assistance planning your trip, feel free to reach out to the G.A.S. team.
LAGOS STATE
Lagos Island Walking Tour
Only a fifteen-minute drive from G.A.S. Lagos, is Lagos Island, the bustling commercial capital of Lagos State, historically known as Eko. It has been a major center of trade, culture, and governance since its origins as a Yoruba settlement in the 15th century. It was later shaped by Portuguese influence, the transatlantic slave trade, British colonial rule, and its emergence as a key commercial hub in modern Nigeria. This one-day walking tour of Lagos Island will highlight the city's Afro-Brazilian architecture, British Christian Missionary influence, colonial rule and cultural and historical sites, offering insights into the island's past and its influence on contemporary Lagos. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the region's history and cultural evolution through guided commentary and exploration from a local guide.
For this tour, you will need sun protection, water to keep hydrated throughout the day, mosquito repellent, and comfortable walking shoes. For photography, we recommend more discreet equipment like a mobile phone. If you need to bring professional equipment with you, please ask your guide for tips on how to use it appropriately in each context.
Raqs Media Collective at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island, a former colonial-era race course and the site of Nigeria's Independence ceremony in 1960.
Badagry Slave Port and Museums
Badagry, a key port in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, saw over half a million enslaved Africans transported across the Atlantic during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is located on the westernmost edge of Lagos state and shares a border with its Francophone neighbour, Benin Republic. This day trip to Badagry includes visits to key sites like the Badagry Heritage Museum, the Slave Trade Route, and a thirty-minute hike to the Point of No Return, where thousands began their forced journey across the Atlantic. The excursion also includes family museums and Christian Missionary landmarks in the area, all handled by guides from the region.
This often solemn excursion may interest residents interested in African diasporic studies and the Black Atlantic. Please note that participants will cross a lake via banana boat to take part in the hike to the Point of No Return.
2023 G.A.S. Residents, Evan Ifekoya and Ryan Pinto on a Banana Boat to The Point of No Return, Badagry.
OGUN STATE
Ogun State shares a border with Lagos in the North-East. It is known today for its bustling population, some tourism, and the production of traditional fabrics such as Adire, and Aso-Oke. Its capital city, Abeokuta (meaning under a rock), was a wartime hideout and military stronghold as the Oyo empire began to decline in the early 19th century. Upon the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, many emancipated Yorubas retraced their steps to Abeokuta and Ijebu to reestablish their roots, bringing with them new hybrid names, trades, crafts, and evangelical inclinations. Ijebu, also in Ogun state, was once the great kingdom of Ijebu, which was founded in the 15th century, is also home to the ruins of one of Africa's largest known manmade earthen structures, Sungbo's Eredo. While in Ogun, residents can also visit the speculated burial place of the Queen of Sheba.
G.A.S. Farm House
Lagos-based residents are encouraged to visit and spend a few nights at the Farm House during their stay. Located on the outskirts of Ikiṣẹ village near Ijebu Ode, our second residency location, was designed by Papa Omotayo of MOE+, with an interior design concept delivered by Temitayo Shonibare. It sits on a hill within Ecology Green Farm, a 54-acre working farm that produces various crops, including cassava, peppers, tomatoes, maize, pawpaw, and ginger.
During a stay at the Farm House, residents can use the wet and dry studio facilities and the outdoor kiln, consult with the Ecology Green Farm staff on agricultural practices, and tour the Greenhouses. To engage with the craft practices in the area, residents can visit the nearby pottery village of Ìgànrán.
Annotations residents at the G.A.S. Farm House.
Abeokuta
While in Abeokuta, visitors can hike to the summit of Olumo Rock, the natural fortress of the Egba people, who settled there in 1830 during the Yoruba intertribal wars. The city was also the childhood home of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. His mother, a prominent feminist and activist, organized market women and led a large-scale anti-tax protest that ultimately reversed the unpopular tax levy. Their former home in Abeokuta now serves as the Kuti Family Museum. Abeokuta is also renowned for producing adire, a traditional resist-dyed textile. The Itoku Market, a hub for adire artisans, allows visitors to engage with local practitioners and explore this enduring craft.
View of Abeokuta from Olumo Rock
OSUN
A three-hour trip from the G.A.S. Farm House, Osun State is the mythological birthplace of Yoruba civilization. Here, Obatala, with permission from the chief god, Olorun, descended from a corner of the sky using a gold chain. Hanging above the earth from his chain, he poured the sand from a snail's shell and released the hen, who scratched and scattered it about. Wherever the sand landed, it formed dry land. Obatala named this landing place Ife, the seat of the spiritual leader of the Yoruba people, the Ooni of Ife.
The Osun excursion is best suited for residents interested in Yoruba culture, spirituality, and traditional fabrics. It is often paired with a trip to the G.A.S. Farm House and is available in a compact day-trip format or can be extended to an overnight trip to accommodate additional itineraries. While in Osun, residents can visit other research destinations, including the Nike Center for Art and Culture, Osogbo, for an Adire (traditional dye) workshop, Obafemi Awolowo University, a foremost Nigerian university for archaeology and African Studies, and the National Museum, Ile-Ife.
Osun Osogbo Sacred Groves
The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is Nigeria's first UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the last remaining sacred forests of the Yoruba people. The grove's 75-hectare landscape has over 400 plant species, of which over 200 are medicinal. The site is dotted by sanctuaries, shrines, the ancestral architecture of the Ataoja of Osogbo, and sculptures that reflect the traditions of Yoruba mythology and artistry. The material culture of the grove was reinvigorated by the intervention of Susanne Wenger and the Movement of New Sacred Artists throughout the 1960s, and the movement is sustained today by the Adunni Olorisha Trust. Its central attraction is the river Osun, the dwelling place of the Yoruba fertility goddess Osun, whose influence is found throughout Yorubaland and its transatlantic diaspora.
Residents visiting the grove can participate in a guided tour of the grove, explore its lush trails, witness the annual Osun-Osogbo festival in August (if timed accordingly), and engage with the historical and spiritual significance of the site. It is an ideal destination for those interested in Yoruba heritage, Orisa, masquerades, art, and ecology.
Raqs Media Collective at the Osun-Osogbo sacred grove.
IBADAN
The city of Ibadan is an hour and a half from the G.A.S. Lagos, 129 km (80 mi) inland northeast of Lagos. A military stronghold during the fall of the Oyo Empire, it soon became one of Nigeria's biggest cities and home to Nigeria's first University, and as a result, a strong academic spirit and community that consolidated around the post-colonial character of the time.
New Culture Studio
New Culture Studio was founded by Demas Nwoko, an artist, architect, and pioneering member of the Zaria Art Society—also known as the Zaria Rebels. This group was known for its stylistic rebellion against the conventional Western art techniques taught at the University of Zaria in the late 1950s. The Zaria Rebels are widely credited with sparking the Nigerian Modernist Art Movement. Located just five kilometers from the University of Ibadan, where Demas was a lecturer at the School of Drama, New Culture Studios became a hub of creativity and innovation. In 1970, Demas introduced the concept of a ‘New Culture,’ which he described as “a culture of critical technology that meets the physical comfort needs of all citizens...” To bring this vision to life, he expanded his personal studio in Ibadan to include facilities for teaching graduates of art and theater. The studio soon evolved into the headquarters of New Culture Magazine, further cementing its role as a center for artistic and intellectual exploration.
Abandoned during the Nigerian Civil war, the studio is currently being revived by Demas' grandson, Rufus Nwoko, whose relationship with our foundation grants our residents privileged access to visit and tour this space, and occassionally access the Studio's rich archives, which include limited volumes of publications from the studio, original works by Demas Nwoko, and scripts and costumes for landmark play, Children of Paradise, which debuted at FESTAC '77.
A trip to New Culture Studios is best complemented by a visit to Demas' iconic Dominican Chapel.
Annotations Research Associates on a group visit to New Culture Studios, Ibadan.
National Archives of Nigeria
The National Archives of Nigeria ensure the permanent care, custody, and management of all archives of the Federal Government and of such other archives in the country as enshrined in the National Archives Act of 2004. Presently, the National Archives is located in 14 states, with its headquarters in Abuja.
National Archives of Ibadan
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Ibadan
IITA is a nonprofit organization that collaborates with partners to develop agricultural solutions that enhance the quality and productivity of tropical agricultural products. By focusing on sustainable farming practices, crop improvement, and natural resource management, it aims to enhance food security and promote environmental stewardship in sub-Saharan Africa. While IITA does not currently provide short-term research access for guests, their hospitality service includes a guided morning forest trail walk, fishing, and golf. It is an excellent way to extend an Ibadan trip to make the most of the city.