On 9 October 2025, friends of the Yinka Shonibare Foundation and G.A.S. Foundation gathered in London as Tate Modern hosted a landmark public conversation to accompany Nigerian Modernism, curated by 2024 G.A.S. alumnus Osei Bonsu. The discussion brought together Yinka Shonibare CBE—founder of Y.S.F. and the G.A.S. Foundation—and Booker Prize–winning writer Sir Ben Okri for an exchange between two leading cultural figures whose work has both shaped and been shaped by global understandings of Nigerian Modernism. Also in attendance was Bruce Onobrakpeya, the pioneering Nigerian modernist printmaker, painter, and sculptor. The evening opened with Osei’s vivid walkthrough of Nigerian Modernism, tracing the movement’s post-independence dynamism and its enduring commitment to experimentation across disciplines.
Throughout the evening, both speakers drew from their own careers and lived experiences. Yinka Shonibare CBE discussed the way his work interrogates the construction of identity within globalisation and its entanglements with race, class, and history. Sir Okri, whose prolific literary career spans poetry, fiction, and activism, reflected on the imagination as a site of liberation and cultural continuity. Together, they offered insight into how Nigerian Modernism continues to resonate in an era defined by shifting political, aesthetic, and ecological urgencies. Sir Okri concluded the talk on a high note with a reading of Ibadan by J.P. Clark. Following the talk, the celebration continued at Tate Modern’s Corner Bar with an after-party hosted by FF Projects. The programme featured sets from Olukemi Lijadu (Kem Kem), whose work explores music as a living archive of communal memory.
The event formed part of the Nigerian Modernism exhibition, presented in partnership with Access Holdings and Coronation Group, and supported by Ford Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Nigerian Modernism Exhibition Supporters Circle, Tate International Council, Tate Patrons, and Tate Americas Foundation.
