A Two-Day Activation Exploring Design, Publishing, Pedagogy, and Southeastern Nigerian Cultural Futures
From October 24th to 25th, 2025, G.A.S. Lagos, in collaboration with Njiko, hosted Njiko: Manifesting Futures – The Ontology of the Possible, a two day symposium presented by designer and researcher Myles Igwebuike as a special project for Design Week Lagos 2025. Building upon the conceptual foundations of Njiko, a framework dedicated to reimagining the cultural heritage of Southeastern Nigeria, this iteration staged an intergenerational dialogue between Myles and architect, designer, and publisher Demas Nwoko, weaving together design, publishing, pedagogy, and histories of cultural self-determination.
Install images, Njiko: Manifesting Futures – The Ontology of the Possible.
The first day introduced the installation and publication as propositions in space, inviting slow, contemplative engagement. At the centre of the activation was the re-imagination of Demas' iconic three-seater chair, transformed from furniture into a symbolic architecture of gathering, a site for bodies, ideas, and speculative possibility. This gesture was accompanied by a new publication conceived as a critical re-activation of Demas' seminal New Culture Magazine. Rather than a reproduction, the publication emerges as a comic-based manifesto rooted in the ideological compass of Nnamdi Azikiwe, particularly his 1937 text Renascent Africa. Azikiwe’s call for mental emancipation anchors two core provocations explored throughout the programme, inviting renewed thinking on cultural renewal, postcolonial design legacies, and African futures in the age of digital colonialism.
Surrounding this publishing practice was an installation featuring contributions by local and diasporic artists working across ceramics, woodworking, lighting, and experimental making, whose works extended Demas’ belief in process-driven material inquiry. Contributors included: curator and art historian Aindrea Emelife; curator, art consultant, and founder of Culture Art Society (CAS) Awa Konaté; artist Chidinma Nnoli; multidisciplinary artist and storyteller Chinasa Chukwu; Managing Director of Universal Music Africa Chin Okeke; designer and creative director Chinny Sibeudu; art director, stylist, and photographer Daniel Obasi; architectural designer, researcher, and writer Eve Nnaji; animation film director, producer, and founder of Vortex Corp Somto Ajuluchukwu; Kelechi Odu, a polymath whose practice spans architecture, design, and art; writer and curator Nelson C.J; artist and printmaker Nkem Okwechime; filmmaker Remi Vaughan; theatre artist and photographer Rufus Nwoko; curator, writer, and founder of Art Bridge Projects Tony Agbapuonwu; multidisciplinary artist Yasmin Mbadiwe; and designer Zoe Chinonso Ene.
Day one, Njiko: Manifesting Futures – The Ontology of the Possible.
The second day, convened participating artists, thinkers, and audiences, for conversations, responses to the provocations, and a special film screening on the life and legacy of Demas Nwoko. Directed by Remi Vaughan and planned in 2019 as part of a multi-film series by the Foundation for Contemporary and Modern Visual Arts (FCMVA, Nigeria), the documentary traces Demas' pioneering role within modern and contemporary Nigerian art. A founding member of the Zaria Rebels, alongside artists such as Bruce Onobrakpeya and Yusuf Grillo, he challenged Western academic frameworks to articulate an artistic language rooted in Nigerian cultural identity. Now in his eighties, he continues to be recognised as a groundbreaking artist and architect whose architectural practice merges vernacular forms and functions with elements drawn from diverse global traditions, resulting in a body of work that is both culturally grounded and radically experimental.
The event concluded with an audience Q&A, offering space for reflection, exchange, and further inquiry into the pedagogical, historical, and future-oriented propositions at the heart of Njikọ.
Day two, Njiko: Manifesting Futures – The Ontology of the Possible.
Watch the Recording of this Event
ABOUT MYLES IGWEBUIKE
Myles Igwebuike is a Nigerian-American designer, researcher, and cultural strategist whose interdisciplinary practice operates at the intersection of heritage, urbanism, and diplomacy. Working between Nigeria and London, his work interrogates memory, space, and identity — positioning design as a tool for collective repair and future-making. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, London, the world’s leading institution for art and design Myles brings a critical, research-led approach to global design discourse. Drawing from his southeastern Nigerian heritage, he founded Njiko, a think tank reimagining cultural heritage through design. Njiko treats heritage data as a living material, uncovering occluded narratives, reframing memory, and inspiring new spatial and symbolic futures.
His methodology spans speculative design, material research, and policy frameworks as expressed in his TED Talk, “Divergent Thinking as a Survival Strategy.” He contributed to the curatorial team of the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial, The Beauty of Impermanence, and has been recognized as a rising voice in the Global South's design futures. Myles curated and designed the Nigeria Pavilion at the 2025 London Design Biennale, which was awarded a Special Mention by the international jury. He currently serves as a design expert on the UK’s Design Council, the national strategic advisory body for design in the UK, and is Special Assistant on Transportation to the Governor of Anambra State. In 2024, Architectural Digest named him one of their AD100 Rising Stars to Watch. He is currently leading the design of a research library in Lagos and an earth factory in Luanda, Angola, two cultural infrastructures that continue his commitment to material experimentation, environmental thinking, and spatial justice. For Myles, design is not merely form-making; it is world-making, a sacred act of storytelling rooted in ancestry and directed toward plural, sovereign futures.
ABOUT NJIKO
Njiko, drawn from the Igbo word for "connection," is a design-thinking practice founded by Myles Igwebuike, dedicated to reimagining the cultural heritage of Southeastern Nigeria. By treating heritage data as a dynamic and evolving medium, Njiko uncovers hidden narratives, reframes collective memory, and inspires communities to envision futures where culture remains fluid, adaptive, and transformative. Through inventive research, exploratory dialogue, and speculative practices, Njiko invites dreamers and thinkers alike to imagine new worlds shaped by tradition yet untethered from convention. It is a space for weaving the past into visionary futures, where heritage becomes a foundation for creativity, resilience, and endless possibility.
This event was hosted by Njiko in collaboration with G.A.S. Foundation.