G.A.S. is excited to welcome back Ofem Ubi, a multidisciplinary artist and recipient of the G.A.S. Foundation's Annual Fellowship Award. As one of the inaugural awardees in 2022, he returns for an eight-week residency to explore creative possibilities at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu. Working across photography, film, and literature, Ofem’s practice focuses on experimenting with participation and collaboration, creating spaces that foster audience engagement and contribution.
During his residency, Ofem plans to draw on numerous books to conduct thorough research and develop a new body of work that reflect his evolving artistic vision. He is eager to leverage the available support and resources to creatively design the thematic structure of his project in terms of content, design, and delivery. Immersed in the farm’s unique environment, he seeks inspiration from the agricultural landscapes to kickstart the conceptualization process, and anticipates a positive transformation in his work. Away from the hustle and bustle of urban life, he believes the tranquility will foster deeper reflection, allowing his creative practice to flourish.
For his final presentation, Ofem looks forward to creating a large-scale installation to commemorate his time at the residency, accompanied by a poetry film that will introduce his project White-Teeth to the public. By building valuable connections with industry professionals and artists, Ofem believes their insights will enrich his experience and potentially lead to future collaborations.
Poetry work, Arriving by Sound, in a group show at Anyen Iyak Foundation. Image courtesy of Toyin Adedokun.
What is the current focus of your creative practice?
I have always loved how art made me feel like I could be more than just a global statistic. I understood innately from my last project, Back on Home Soil, that artists wield the power to alienate or assemble. With this realization, I have tried to envision and create works that not only compel participation but do so while maintaining the core of their intention.
My creative practice is currently focused on experimentation with participation, making spaces for contributions and association through my work, and sharing creative space with the audience, which in turn helps them appreciate the work created. I have seen this work in micro spaces, but I want to throw myself into the deep with a crucial project and see what works. This, to a large extent, opens me up to uncharted territories and tests relationships between my practice and other visual forms of art. But I’m open to these boundaries because they extensively inform my mission of storytelling through poetry (as text and metaphor) and beyond.
Untitled, 2024, Photography. Image courtesy of Ofem Ubi.
What drew you to apply for this residency and how do you think it will inform your wider practice?
The Foundation has established itself as a leading art institution through its numerous programs and initiatives over the years, making space for artists and art enthusiasts to engage with the culture and build their crafts, as well as their affinity for the arts. Getting a residency at G.A.S. opens you up to the possibilities that exist in the space and how well you can position yourself for these opportunities, even while improving your artistic practice.
G.A.S. has also proven to be the perfect place for me and my work because they understand the creative process and have proven over time to let artists roam creatively, giving them the freedom to create work that wouldn't be possible in other environments. My practice will gain tremendously from this because it gives me the time to focus on building, away from the duty of survival. It also affords me the space to research and learn new forms of visual engagement through my work.
Self portrait of Ofem Ubi. Image courtesy of Ofem Ubi.
Can you give us an insight into how you hope to use the opportunity?
I hope to begin work on a project I have long wanted to start. This opportunity gives me the time and environment to write, conduct research, gather materials and references, meet with industry professionals, and design the project’s structure.
RESIDENCY ARCHIVE
EVENT: The Last Time That I Called...
Event Date: 8th - 10th September 2022
From 8th to the 10th September 2022 Ofem Ubi presented his first solo exhibition, The Last Time I Called... The moment marked the culmination of his residency and offered visitors the opportunity to experience a new multidisciplinary body of work spanning photography and poetry, developed during his time at G.A.S. The pieces presented addressed a series of provocations developed by the artist upon his selection for the programme. The exhibition was well attended by a diverse mix of guests including artists, creative pcticioners, cultural stakeholders and collectors from Lagos and beyond.
Exhibition view of The Last Time I Called...
ALUMNI UPDATE: Back on Home Soil
Event Date: March 2023
Five months after his residency, G.A.S. Fellow Ofem Ubi shares a new body of work, Back on Home Soil. In this recently developed project the prolific photographer, writer and filmmaker presents a powerful and deeply personal exploration of grief, which he approaches with remarkable vulnerability. It comes as a sequel to The Last Time I Called the First Thing I Heard was "As-Salamu Alaykum, a collection of film, photography and poetry developed during his six week residency at G.A.S. Lagos.
Exhibition view of Back on Home Soil.
EVENT: Functions of Humor
Event Date: 13th December 2024
On December 13th, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Functions of Humor, a talk and writing workshop led by two-time G.A.S. resident Ofem Ubi, alongside acclaimed Nigerian-British artist, film director, photographer, and poet Joladé Olusanya. The event opened with a presentation by Ofem, who shared insights from his eight-week residency at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu. He spoke on humor’s transformative power, exploring its role as a universal coping mechanism in the face of societal and economic challenges such as rising insecurity and inflation. Ofem also posed a thought-provoking question: Is humor a finite resource?
Ofem Ubi and Joladé Olusanya reading a poem to the audience at Functions of Humor, presented on 13th December, 2024.
ABOUT OFEM UBI
A poet and artist from Nigeria, Ofem Ubi is exploring the poetic through visual forms. Drawing prompts from experience, his work upholds a constant query on memory and its manifestations beyond the page. His significant query —The Last Time I Called— focused on themes of grief, birthing a pamphlet and a show at the Guest Artists Space Foundation in 2022. The project also recorded a sequel —*Back on Home Soil*— scoring an exhibition and a film screening at the Fringe of Colour Film Festival, Edinburgh, in 2023, marking an extension of his inquiry. Ofem Ubi is a 2024 Prince Claus Seed Award recipient and a G.A.S. Foundation alumnus. He has shown works widely, including at RELE Gallery, Alte Tankstelle Deutz in Cologne, INKWELL Journal by Writerz & Scribez, and Alliance Française, Lagos.
This edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award is generously supported by Still Earth Holdings and our Residency Patrons.
