On September 3rd, 2025, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Picturing Return: Afro-Brazilian Archives in Nigeria, an evening that traced the histories, images, and narratives of the Aguda community and their enduring presence in Nigeria. Bringing together Pelumi Odubanjo whose practice examines the historical and contemporary links between Brazil and the West African diaspora, and scholar, curator, and researcher Oludamola Adebowale, the event explored the living archive of Afro-Brazilian presence in Nigeria

The African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab) is an international network initiated by the Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) and Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation, aimed at fostering collaboration among African arts libraries, archives, artists, publishers, and members of the AAL Lab Affiliates Network. The Network invites global institutions holding African and Afro-diasporic art collections to contribute to the strengthening of African-led infrastructures and professional capacities through knowledge exchange, co-curation, joint research, and capacity-building initiatives. At the centre of this initiative are the AAL Lab Convenings, titled Contemporary Art and Archive Practices—a series of public events that bring together the African Arts Libraries Lab, its Affiliates Network, and wider audiences to engage in research-sharing and dialogue on contemporary art and archival practice.

We are excited to welcome Pelumi Odubanjo, a British-Nigerian curator, writer, and researcher, to G.A.S. Lagos as our last resident in August. Based between London and Glasgow, Pelumi’s practice spans photography, multidisciplinary research, curatorial work, and ecology. Currently a PhD candidate in History of Art at the University of Glasgow and a James McCune Smith Scholar, her work engages with photographic archives, artists, and cultural artefacts to explore dialogues across global Black diasporas and geographies.