G.A.S. Foundation is pleased to welcome Olutomi Kassim, a UK-based academic researcher and interdisciplinary artist, for a residency at G.A.S. Lagos as a recipient of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026. Olutomi’s practice sits at the intersection of scholarly research, performance, and textile-based art, examining how artistic practice can function as a catalyst for civic dialogue and social transformation. Her current work explores the role of cultural production as a form of “soft power” capable of addressing post-colonial governance challenges and encouraging communal reflection on justice, memory, and democratic futures.
During her three-week residency, Olutomi will focus on preparing and delivering a three-day workshop centred on scholarly and critical writing about art in post-colonial Nigeria. The workshop aims to support participants in developing solution-oriented writing practices that engage art as a vehicle for social commentary and change. In the weeks leading up to the sessions, Olutomi will refine workshop materials, conduct research using the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, and participate in events across the Lagos art community. Through this residency, Olutomi also hopes to foster conversations that connect artistic practice with public discourse, encouraging emerging writers and artists to critically reflect on the role of culture in shaping contemporary Nigerian society.
Fly (2016). Benji Reid.
What is the current focus of your creative practice?
I am currently immersed in an interdisciplinary, practice-based research project as both an academic researcher and artist. The project asks: Can soft-power performance art provide a potent tool to confront post-colonial prebendal practices in Nigeria and stimulate communal reflection, dialogue, and future planning? It explores how storytelling, visual metaphors, and collective memory can spark progressive and democratic conversations around governance and social justice. Alongside this research, I design and produce textile artworks that embody these values.
What drew you to apply for this residency and how do you think it will inform your wider practice?
The residency aligns closely with my current writing phase within my PhD research on Nigerian art activism, offering valuable time and space to deepen my research and advance my writing on the intersections of art, activism, and cultural discourse.
(2019). Katherine Leedale.
Can you give us an insight into how you hope to use the opportunity?
I would like to expand my scholarly writing practice while developing my role as a facilitator supporting participants in their own writing. More broadly, I see critical writing as a way of advancing art as a vehicle for social reflection and change.
About Olutomi Kassim
Olutomi Kassim is an academic researcher and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores art activism, storytelling, and cultural diplomacy as tools for social change. She has contributed scholarly chapters to several academic publications, including the Routledge Handbook for African Theatre Studies (2024). Her current research project, Staging Activism, examines how interdisciplinary performance art and cultural ambassadorship can stimulate dialogue around governance, memory, and justice in post-colonial Nigeria. Alongside her writing, Kassim produces textile artworks that embody themes of collective memory, political reflection, and social transformation.
Photo of Olutomi Kassim. Image courtesy of Mountview Theatre School.
Olutomi's residency is generously supported by Deutsche Bank.
