Into the Art of Making

Into the Art of Making brought contemporary and indigenous worlds of art into conversation, tracing nostalgia, memory and identity through art and fashion. The exhibition approached making as a way of carrying history forward: material practices inherited from those before us, and the new ways artists and designers reclaim, interpret and share them.

Across painting, photography, sculpture, textiles, fashion and installation, the edition invited audiences into distinct narratives of the art of making. Works considered self-portraiture and the desire to reconnect with cultural origin; the complexities of African-diaspora identity; the lives of fishing communities in Kaduna; royalty and its meanings; childhood memories in Kaduna’s suburbs; and responses to contemporary social questions.

Traditional African crafts, passed from one generation to the next, formed an important thread. Beyond their role as livelihoods, these practices hold social and cultural significance, carrying knowledge, identity and memory across time.