MOE+artArchitecture

Papa Omotayo is a Lagos-based architect, designer, urbanist, researcher, filmmaker and cultural facilitator with a multi-faceted practice focused on collaboration, creativity, and material exploration as a pathway towards sustainable growth and social impact, especially on the African continent.  His approach to architecture and design is holistic and community oriented, built on an in-depth and personal engagement with the people who occupy the spaces he builds to ensure that they are conceived with a psychology that is generative, ecologically-sensitive, and flexible. 

Omotayo is a principal of both MOE+artArchitecture (MOE+AA), an architecture firm engaged in major projects across West Africa, and A Whitespace Creative Agency (AWCA), a design firm centered on creative production and programming, which often collaborate on projects to create a holistic program that not only builds spaces, but considers their use, development, and engagement into the future. Comprised of about 20 architects, designers, and creatives, these dual agencies have undertaken a wide range of major projects under Omotayo’s direction.  Notable recent projects include the design for the central building of Yinka Shonibare’s G.A.S. Foundation Farmhouse — which site sits on the lush 54-acre Ecology Green Farm in Ijebu, forming both a working farm and artist residency space — and a collaboration with Adjaye Associates as the local architects of record for the forthcoming Benin Pavilion , accompanied by broader planning with the team on envisioning the future of the surrounding cultural and creative district. 

Omotayo is also the designer of the internationally-renowned ART X Lagos art fair, responsible for the physical design of the fair as well as the interactive programmatic elements. Additionally, he is well known in Lagos for the public art intervention under the Falomo bridge that he designed in collaboration with the artist Polly Alakija, which created a cultural destination from a highly trafficked liminal space, and ongoing research projects such as mapping the ecosystem of trees through the city of Lagos and creating a local material lab, both of which are focused on building and advocating for more sustainable practices in urbanism and building with both the local government and design community.  

MMB Creative

Despatch Rider, Dancer, Lab Technician to name but a few of the adventures taken before finding my true path of Film Editing.  It is none more than that of Dancer though that have and continue to influence the way I edit.  The elements of dance; rhythm, flow, expression, lyricism, mingle and merge with that of editing leading to a seamless, fluid dance of picture and sound.

Since joining the BBC I have been lucky enough to have worked alongside legends of the screen such as John Schlesinger, Jack Clayton and of late, Roger Spottiswoode. 

I work across both Documentaries and Drama, each adding to the skill of the other evident in BAFTA and Grierson nominations.  My strengths lie in narrative, understanding the Director’s vision and translating that vision from script to rushes to screen.

FILMWRIGHTS LIMITED

Randall Wright graduated from UCL London to train at the BBC as a film editor and producer. He has directed and produced more than fifty television films, two cinema documentaries, and a number of short campaigning films, one of which opened the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2010. His films have won many awards, including Grierson, RTS and FIFA, as well as BAFTA, Emmy, Prix Italia and Banff nominations.

At his primary school in Leicester, enlightened local education authorities placed physically handicapped students in regular classes. One of those pioneers became a life long friend and introduced him to the realities of life with disabilities. His latest film, Summer in the Forest, tells the story of Jean Vanier, and the first communities for people with intellectual disabilities and will release in America March 23 2018.

His first cinema documentary, Hockney which premiered at the London Film Festival and released in the US, UK, France, Italy, and Australia.  It was critically acclaimed nominated for an Prix Italia, RTS and won the FIFA award.  His previous work includes Lucian Freud: A Painted Life, which won an RTS award for best documentary of the year and a Grierson and Emmy nomination, and BAFTA Robert Flaherty nomination;  and many films on sub-Saharan African subjects including an acclaimed three part series for Channel 4, Africa Unmasked.

Randall Wright lives in London, with his wife Anne Elletson, a documentary executive producer and founder of the Kew Literary Festival, two children.

Sound Disposition

Roland is a London-based sound supervisor, and is the Managing Director of Sound Disposition. He started his career at the prestigious Abbey Road studios. Since then he has worked extensively as a sound designer, re-recording mixer, sound recordist and scoring mixer on films, documentaries, TV and corporate films, both in the UK, and in many other countries around the world. In his rare spare time he runs marathons and grows beards.

Sound Disposition

Simon first joined Sound Disposition during his industry placement year on the Tonmeister course but was welcomed back into the fold soon after as a full time employee and has been honing his sound design craft across a variation of projects ever since. In his spare time he is an electronic music producer; enjoying the intersection between sound design and music –  the beautiful grey area where these two facets of a soundtrack sing together as one in the storytelling process.

G.A.S. Resident 2023

Alberta Whittle is an acclaimed Barbadian-Scottish artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, performance, film, and installation. Her practice explores the historical legacies of the Transatlantic slave trade and the UK’s role in the Empire, as well as the violence of colonialism and racism that continue to permeate society today.

G.A.S. Foundation’s focus on international cultural exchange provided Alberta a long-awaited opportunity to research, experiment, share, and develop ideas through a fresh lens. Her time in Nigeria was spent researching, meeting, and getting to know the practices of other artists and creative thinkers.

In March 2024 Alberta presented the work created during the residency at Regen Projects in LA (USA). Titled Learning a New Punctuation for Hope in Times of Disaster, Alberta’s exhibition at Regen Projects exemplified her interdisciplinary approach to cultivating community and care as an antidote to catastrophes, from ecological collapse to the legacy of anti-Blackness.

Alberta’s residency was funded by a successful Big Give crowdfunding campaign that was undertaken by the Yinka Shonibare Foundation in December 2022.

G.A.S. Programming Participant

Ayomide Fasedu is a Lagos-born musician, prolific writer, editor, and spoken word poet. Her debut poetry collection, The Ashes Have Their Own Stories, was self-published in August and has been shortlisted twice. She was the first runner-up at the Lagos International Poetry Festival in 2022, shortlisted for the 2022 SPRINGNG Women Authors’ Prize, and winner of the Wordaholics Poetry Slam in 2018, Best Performer at Terra Kulture in 2018, and Best Essayist at Saint Titus Initiative in 2017.

Fash’s writing is centred on women, engaging with themes that range from healing, femininity, and queerness to social justice and Nigerian identity. Inspired by her earthy roots and rich literary background, with deep interests in the concepts of love and chaos, her debut single, “Gold and Fire,” captures the playful tension between these ideas: the sweetness of love and the power of chaos, creating a soulful and effervescent sound.

A multi-instrumentalist among her many talents, Fash previously tested the waters in a collaboration with alternative musician Blackmagic on the record “The Call,” from his most recent body of work. As a medium of aural art herself, Fash undoubtedly embodies inimitable creative richness and fully intends to channel it through Afro-soul, neo-soul, alternative R&B, and house music as she enters the music scene.

“Gold and Fire” is simply the ethereal-sounding herald and precursor to her musical journey, which she intends to cement with her debut album, set to be titled Wildfire and Chocolate Toppings.

G.A.S. Resident 2025

Bisila Noha is a London-based ceramicist, writer, and researcher whose practice challenges Western distinctions between art and craft while exploring themes of home, oneness, and lineage. Working across wheel-thrown ceramics and sculptural forms, she engages deeply with the histories and techniques of pottery communities, particularly those led by women. Through material, movement, and storytelling, Bisila traces forgotten narratives—offering a bridge between past and present.

Bisila completed a six-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, where she immersed herself in Nigeria’s rich ceramic traditions. She began in Lagos, engaging with local potters in the Ayobo community while researching Nigerian crafts in the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive. Midway through, she traveled to Ilorin and Osogbo, visiting Dada Pottery and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage site dedicated to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility.

For the final three weeks of her residency, Bisila relocated to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where she made regular visits to the Ìgànrán Pottery Community, deepening her understanding of their techniques and rituals. This period of sustained observation, collaboration, and practice laid the foundation for Ile Ọkàn – A Gathering at the House of the Soul, a sculptural installation and communal event inspired by Mbari houses—ceremonial clay structures built by the Igbo people as artistic and spiritual tributes to the Earth goddess, Ala. 

Her residency concluded with The Clay Women of Ìgànrán, a virtual presentation documenting her time with the women potters of Ìgànrán, a small town in Ogun State. Through video, photographs, and firsthand accounts, she captured their intricate process—from mining and processing clay to shaping, firing, and selling finished vessels. This research reinforced her ongoing commitment to documenting pottery communities and their histories, a journey she has been tracing across different regions since 2017.

Bisila's residency is generously supported by kó Art Space.

Communications and Events Co-ordinator at G.A.S. Foundation

Catherine Bardi is the Communications and Events Coordinator at G.A.S. Foundation. She has previously worked as the Communications Manager at Wunika Mukan Gallery in Lagos and as a contributing writer at Art Network Africa (formerly Art News Africa). Catherine holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Benin, which provided the foundation for her career in communications, further developed during an internship at Xpress Payment Solutions Limited.

This experience has been key in shaping her career in the art sector, where she has developed skills in writing, and relationship management with artists and art professionals

G.A.S. Resident 2022
 

Emma Prempeh lives and works in London. She studied at Goldsmiths University of London graduating in 2019 and winning the Alumno/Space bursary award in 2020. She attended MA Painting at the Royal College of Art under the LeverHulme Trust Arts Scholarship winning the Valerie Beston Trust Arts award for 2022.

Emma was Tiwani Contemporary’s inaugural Artist in Residence at G.A.S. She used the period in Nigeria to develop and finish new work for a solo presentation at the gallery’s Lagos venue on Victoria Island between the 8th of September and the 28th of October 2022.⁠

Emma's residency was supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

Uganda | October - November 2025

E.N. Mirembe is a cultural worker who works as a curator, writer, and researcher. Their curatorial practice is founded on an interest in work by Black writers and artists as an experimental ground for conversation, critical fabulation, play, theory, and method. They curated Forms of Fray (The African Arts Trust, 2025), The Geography of Fixed Things (ARAK Collection, 2025), Njabala: An Elegy (Makerere Art Gallery, 2024), and at the limit of dream (Brussels, 2023). Together with Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo they co-curated in transit under another sky, which has had iterations in Kampala, Nairobi, London, and the 2025 Coventry Biennial. Mirembe’s writing is published in Artforum, Africa is a Country, African Arguments, and other outlets.

During their residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Mirembe engaged deeply with the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, spending time researching Black Orpheus journals as part of ongoing work on literary magazines. They connected with Lagos-based artists, writers, and cultural practitioners through studio visits, literary networks, and cultural gatherings. Their residency included participation in the Fieldnotes program with Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, visits to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise and the Yemisi Shyllon Museum, and engagement with events such as DesignWeek Lagos.

Mirembe’s residency culminated in their contribution to the 2025 Re:assemblages Symposium, framing a discussion with Dr. Nadine Siegert around the publication Reading Ecologies: Transforming Publishing in Africa. The discussion positioned Black literary cultures and independent art publishing as world-making practices, examining how magazines and initiatives such as The Crisis (New York, 1910–), Black Orpheus (Ibadan, 1957–75), Transition (Kampala–Accra–Boston, 1961–), Staffrider (Johannesburg, 1978–93), and Medu (Gaborone, 1979–85) have historically shaped and unsettled knowledge production. The dialogue also highlighted contemporary practices through the four-year We Make Books project, initiated by Goethe-Institut Nigeria in collaboration with AFRIKADAA (Paris), Mosaïques (Yaoundé), and Miss Read (Berlin), demonstrating co-publishing as both method and metaphor in transcontinental engagements.

G.A.S. Foundation Farm Residency Coordinator

Funmilola Ogunshina is the Farm Residency Coordinator at G.A.S. Foundation bringing over 7 years of experience across the creative industries, project management, and cultural strategy. A multidisciplinary artist, her background spans music, fashion design, video creation, and poetry, allowing her bridge artistic expression with operational efficiency.

Prior to joining G.A.S. Foundation, she worked as a Digital Marketing Manager, Content Strategist for creative and tech startups, and Community Manager at 16/16. In these roles, she managed projects, developed content strategies, and led teams across media, marketing, and hospitality.

A graduate of Babcock University with a degree in Mass Communication (Broadcasting), Funmilola also holds a Digital Marketing Certification from the Digital Marketing Skills Institute. Her expertise in digital marketing enhances her practice, equipping her to navigate the evolving landscape of creative storytelling and audience engagement.

G.A.S. Resident 2022

Gideon Gomo is a visual artists and sculptor based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He studied at the National Gallery Visual Arts Studios of Zimbabwe and has exhibited extensively internationally in Germany, South Africa, Austria and his native Zimbabwe. He has completed both local and international artist residencies in Germany and South Africa and participated in the Oberncation Sculpture Symposium in 2009 and again in 2012.

His practice has always focused on everyday life and his lived experience. Gideon’s current preoccupation is the exploration of emotions, and specifically uncovering emotions that men don’t typically express due to social and societal constraints and expectations.

He used his residency to develop new sculptures for I See You, a group exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean artists held at Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos. His residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

G.A.S. Resident 2025

Jonn Gale is a London-based ethnobotanist whose research spans botanical collections, archival materials, and sensory-focused visual ethnography. Her practice embraces nonlinearity and multi-species livability, centring the agency of plants as historical actors capable of narrating alternative stories. As part of her AHRC/CHASE-funded PhD at Birkbeck, University of London, in collaboration with the Linnean Society, she investigates the overlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous naturalists to 18th and 19th-century botanical knowledge. Her work seeks to develop decolonial and relational approaches to archival research.

Jonn was the first PhD placement resident at G.A.S. Foundation. She began her twelve-week residency in Lagos, conducting research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, and visiting key institutions such as the Traditional Medicine Board and Yemkem International. These early engagements laid the groundwork for broader inquiries into how medicinal knowledge is preserved, transformed, and practised. She also connected with the local art community, visiting artists' studios and participating in virtual research development sessions for the African Arts Libraries (AAL) Lab with Naima Hassan, Associate Archivist and Curator at Yinka Shonibare Foundation.

Midway through her residency, she travelled to Ibadan to visit the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), expanding her understanding of agroecology and sustainable farming systems. Her research evolved through forest walks, meetings with local herbalists, and collaborative gardening at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ, where she spent the majority of her stay. In addition to her fieldwork, Jonn was invited to speak at TEDxLagos, where she shared insights into her practice and reflected on the role of ethnobotany in decolonising knowledge systems.

In her final weeks, Jonn led Understanding Plants - Botany and Herbarium Practice, a community workshop with students from St. John’s Primary School in Ikiṣẹ. Through hands-on activities in botany and herbarium-making, the students were encouraged to closely observe their environment, nurturing curiosity and a sense of environmental stewardship.

Her residency concluded with Spiral Margins/Ecotonal Memories, a residency presentation and workshop held at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ. Centred around a botanical garden that Jonn developed and cultivated at the Ecology Green Farm, the presentation wove together storytelling, field research, and community engagement. Drawing on the concept of ecotone, Jonn explored the convergence of scientific and Indigenous knowledge systems through the form of a living archive. The spiral-shaped garden, inspired by Malidoma Somé’s Of Water and the Spirit, featured medicinal plants labelled in both Yoruba and scientific names, many of which were sourced through community exchange. The event included a guided farm walk and communal seed-sowing session.

Jonn Gale's residency was supported by CHASE and G.A.S. Foundation.

G.A.S. Resident 2023 & 20244

Nolan Oswald Dennis is a para-disciplinary artist whose work interrogates "a black consciousness of space"—the material and metaphysical conditions of decolonisation. By questioning historical narratives of space and time, Nolan's practice favours system-specific interventions over site-specific ones. They hold a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and a Master's degree in Art, Culture, and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Nolan was the first returning resident at G.A.S., using this concentrated time in Lagos to prepare for the upcoming Lagos Biennial. The residency was pivotal for refining the details of the Traces of Ecstasy pavilion, which they designed to feature newly commissioned works by a collective of artists, including former G.A.S. residents Evan Ifekoya and Raymond Pinto. Nolan also presented the pavilion's research and conceptual framework at the Traces of Ecstasy Symposium, part of the Biennial's offsite programme.

In addition to their Lagos-based activities, Nolan made a field trip to Ibadan to visit the New Culture Studio and the Dominican Chapel. Their research during this period delved into the legacy of the Mbari Artists and Writers Club and other influential movements that shaped Nigeria's modernist art era.

G.A.S. Resident 2022 & 2024

Ofem Ubi is a Nigerian poet and artist exploring the poetic through visual forms. Drawing prompts from personal experiences, his work engages with memory and its manifestations beyond the page. Ofem was among the inaugural recipients of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award in 2022. His project, The Last Time I Called, explored themes of grief and memory, culminating in the publication of his first poetry pamphlet and an exhibition at G.A.S. Lagos in September of the same year. This inquiry continued with Back on Home Soil, a sequel that scored an exhibition and film screening at the Fringe of Colour Film Festival in Edinburgh in 2023. Ofem is a 2024 Prince Claus Seed Award recipient. He was awarded the G.A.S. Fellowship Award in 2024, facilitating his return for an eight-week residency to explore new creative possibilities at the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu.

During his residency, Ofem concentrated on evolving his ongoing project, White Teeth. The farm’s tranquil setting provided an ideal space for focused reading, research, and creative development. He gathered materials and references, using the residency to refine the thematic structure of his work while exploring new approaches to its content, design, and presentation.

At the end of his residency, Ofem co-led Functions of Humor, a talk and writing workshop with Nigerian-British artist, filmmaker, photographer, and poet Joladé Olusanya. The session explored humor as a transformative tool in creative practice and social critique. Through interactive writing exercises, participants examined humor’s role in fostering connection, resilience, and collective healing, while considering its potential to inspire fresh perspectives on social issues.

Ofem’s residency and this edition of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award were generously supported by Still Earth Holdings and our Residency Patrons.

Independent Filmmaker  

G.A.S. Resident 2025

Olufela Omokeko is a Nigerian interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores sociocultural issues through performance, installation, photo-video art, and social practice. His work investigates themes such as psycho-social dynamics, mortality, food insecurity, violence, and ecological challenges, using conceptual and community-driven approaches. Notable projects include his solo exhibitions Masquerading Plastic (2019) and Ilarun (2019), and installations like Son of Pepper Seller. His recent project, Ayetoro: Field of Gold and Rivers of Black, supported by the Goethe-Institut, further underscores his commitment to combining social engagement with experimental artistic practice.

Olufela completed an eight-week residency at G.A.S. Foundation, where he explored Yoruba agricultural identity and developed Àgbàlá Ọkọ́ – Hoe Courtyard as part of his ongoing Mobile Food Museum project which challenges the extinction of local food culture. While in Lagos, he conducted research in the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, and connected with traditional wood carvers. He then relocated to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikise, where he engaged with local farmers, observed traditional farming practices, and developed his sculptural work which involved the transformation of a ‘Hoe’ a key Yoruba agricultural tool, into an artistic element that honors and elevates farmers’ cultural presence. He also collaborated with Yoruba poet Aremo Gemini during this period, which informed his final project.

The residency culminated in Hoe Courtyard, a site-specific installation where farm tools, market imagery, and poetry were transformed into interactive sculptures. Spread throughout the Farm House, the immersive environment invited visitors to explore the intersections of sustenance, labor, and cultural memory, reflecting Olufela’s ongoing commitment to preserving and celebrating Nigerian foodways and agricultural knowledge.

G.A.S. Resident 2022

Portia Zvavahera was born in 1985 in Harare where she currently lives and works. She has had six solo exhibitions at Stevenson Cape Town and Johannesburg (2014-20), and two at David Zwirner, London and New York (2020–21). The Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean in Mauritius presented a small survey, Walk of Life, in 2020. A two-person show, Portia Zvavahera and Gustav Klimt: A Dialogue, took place at De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, in 2019. Zvavahera held a solo exhibition, Under My Skin, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, in 2010.

Portia featured in the main exhibition of the 59th Venice Biennale, The Milk of Dreams. She represented Zimbabwe at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 as part of the exhibition Dudziro: Interrogating the Visions of Religious Beliefs at the Zimbabwean Pavilion.

She used her residency to develop new paintings for I See You, a group exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean artists held at Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos. Her residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

G.A.S. Residents 2023

Raqs Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta) are variously described as artists, media practitioners, curators, researchers, editors and catalysts of cultural processes. Their work is located at the intersections of contemporary art, historical enquiry, philosophical speculation, research and theory, often taking the form of installations, online and offline media objects, performances and encounters.

In June 2023, the collective undertook a residency at the G.A.S. Farm House on Ecology Green Farm in Ikise, Ogun State, where they developed their new work, Na-Bam: Measure without Measure. The piece was their contribution to the World Weather Network, a global constellation of 28 arts agencies from around the world formed as a means of fostering interdisciplinary responses to the ongoing climate crisis.

Research for Na-Bam began in India, with fieldwork conducted along the 28th parallel north in locations such as the Teesta River in Sikkim, the Indus River in Ladakh, and the deserts of Rajasthan. The work evolved further in Nigeria, where Raqs Media Collective embarked on research trips to the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Osun State. These explorations deepened their engagement with local ecologies and mythologies.

At the end of their residency, the collective hosted Thinking with the Blood of Stars, a screening of their film The Blood of Stars, followed by a discussion that offered insights into their research and residency experience.

Na-Bam: Measure without Measure was first exhibited at Khoj Studios, New Delhi, in January 2024.

G.A.S. Resident 2023 & 2024

Raymond Pinto is a multidisciplinary performance artist whose work centres on the African diaspora, drawing from queer and Black archives. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he studied dance and graduated from the Juilliard School in 2013, later earning a master's degree in Performance Studies from New York University. Raymond has collaborated with internationally touring dance companies and renowned choreographers, including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Gauthier Dance, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Bill T. Jones, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Shikeith, Kevin Beasley, and Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion.

During his residency, Raymond focused on building and expanding his network with Nigerian practitioners, exploring potential collaborations in anticipation of his participation in the Lagos Biennial. His work specifically investigated embodied movement and traditional masquerade performance. To conclude his residency, he presented a performance at G.A.S. Lagos and hosted Carry My Not Knowing, a movement workshop for the local community. 

Raymond's residency was delivered in partnership with Lagos Biennial.

G.A.S. Resident 2025

Sola Olulode is a British–Nigerian artist based in London. She received a BA in Fine Art Painting from the University of Brighton in 2018 and later completed a graduate studio residency at Lewisham Art House. Working across natural dyeing, wax, ink, pastel, and impasto, Sola creates richly textured canvases that explore the fluidity of identity. Grounded in lived experience, friendships, and cultural reference points, her practice centres Black queer womxn, foregrounding the importance of representation, care, and celebration. Her figures inhabit tender, utopian spaces that honour queer intimacy beyond reductive narratives, offering moments of warmth, memory, and deep connection.

During her residency at G.A.S. Lagos, Sola used the time and space to expand her practice through research and material experimentation. She focused on deepening her engagement with Yoruba textile traditions, particularly the cultural histories and processes of adire. Her residency included reading, archive visits, site-based research, and hands-on learning through workshops and engagements with local dyers and textile practitioners. She also participated in a week-long masterclass led by Dr. Peju Layiwola, a Nigeria-based artist and historian, whose courses celebrate the breadth of African artistic traditions and knowledge systems, ranging from adire and dyeing techniques to bronze casting, jewellery making, and other forms of material practice.

This period offered Sola the opportunity to experiment with materials she had not previously accessed, explore colour and resist-dye processes, and strengthen both the technical and conceptual foundations of her work. The residency also allowed her to reconnect with Lagos, the city her family originates from while building meaningful relationships within the local creative community. She approached the residency as a moment of expansion, developing a more confident body of work grounded in cultural expertise, craft lineages, and shared artistic exchange.

The residency culminated in Artist CRIT, an informal art critique session facilitated by Sola Olulode. Designed for artists working across disciplines who may feel underserved by traditional critique structures, the session created a supportive and open environment for sharing work, exchanging ideas, and receiving constructive feedback. Centring dialogue, care, and mutual respect, Artist CRIT invited participants to present works-in-progress, completed pieces, or conceptual ideas, whether physically or digitally and engage in thoughtful collective reflection on process and practice.

Sola's residency was generously supported through funding from Arts Council England.

Benin | April 2023

Tobi Onabolu is a multidisciplinary storyteller who navigates the intersections of conceptual, audiovisual, written, and experiential arts. Driven by his ikigai—a deep sense of purpose—Tobi advocates for cultural Pan-Africanism through collaboration, storytelling, and healing. His work delves into themes of identity, space, time, and spirituality, celebrating African and Diasporic cultures. His award-winning short film Dear Black Child exemplifies these themes, resonating with audiences by addressing the complexities of Black identity and heritage.

During his residency, primarily spent at the G.A.S. Farm House, Tobi explored frequencies and vibrations through the lens of Yoruba culture. His research engaged deeply with the natural environment, his own body, and music, allowing him to investigate the connections between physical and spiritual realms. On 4th May 2023, he presented Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?, an immersive installation and performance. This multimedia work, incorporating video, photography, sound, poetry, and performance, interrogated the process of liberating the subconscious mind and body from external forces of control.

Tobi was one of seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award, announced in February 2022.

G.A.S. Resident 2023

Umar Rashid, born in 1976 in Chicago, Illinois, is an artist currently residing and working in Los Angeles, California. He earned his BA from Southern Illinois University in 2000. For the past seventeen years, Rashid has been documenting the intricate, historical, and episodic saga of a fictional world superpower known as the Frenglish Empire. Spanning the years 1658 to 1880, this empire encompasses a transcontinental realm comprising dominions, protectorates, and colonies, including England, France, Turkey, India, the Caribbean, and Australia. Throughout its history, the Frenglish Empire engages in military campaigns, political intrigues, dynastic alliances, and notably, colonial exploits driven by survivalist and expansionist imperial policies. Over the centuries, it faces significant rival states, including its suzerain, the North American Belhaven Republic, and a defiant Dutch republic known as the Batavian Empire.

During his residency, Umar focused on deepening connections with his heritage and expanding his research into traditional Adire techniques, with the aim of incorporating the dye and resist method into his richly textured tapestry pieces.

Umar's residency was generously supported by Tiwani Contemporary.

Curator

Yinka Shonibare CBE (RA)is a British-Nigerian artist based in London, whose multi-disciplinary practice explores colonialism and post-colonialism within the context of globalisation. Through examining race, class and the construction of cultural identity, Shonibare’s works comment on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe, and their respective economic and political histories.
Yinka is one of the world’s foremost artists. A Turner Prize nominee, his work has been included in Documenta IX, the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square (2010-12) and the Venice Biennale. He has exhibited internationally at prominent museums and held in notable collections including Tate, MoMA, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and LACMA.

Curator

Ann Marie Peña leads the curatorial vision behind the presentation and serves as curatorial advisor to Y.S.F. Her practice is grounded in contemporary art commissioning and community-engaged public programmes, with senior roles spanning UK local government agencies, Frith Street Gallery, and currently the National Gallery of Canada where she is Curator of Special Projects. As Studio Manager for Yinka Shonibare CBE from 2005-2011, Ann Marie collaborated with Yinka to establish the Guest Projects exhibition and residency programme in 2008.

Belinda leads on the programme, partnerships, fundraising and governance at both Guest Artists Space Foundation in Nigeria and Yinka Shonibare Foundation. In 2020, during the global pandemic, she launched Guest Projects Digital to support artists and curators in developing and sharing their work. In 2022 she firmly established the Guest Artists Space residency programme in Lagos with the artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA.

With over 20 years of international experience, Belinda has developed and delivered culture-driven programs and commissions. She co-founded the arts consultancy T Projects in Melbourne and served as a strategic arts consultant for the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Creative Programme in Australia. From 2012 to 2017, she worked with the cultural agency Futurecity, developing cultural strategies, commissioning significant artworks and leading teams in London before becoming Head of the Sydney office.

Belinda excels in the integration of communities, art, design, and the built environment. With extensive experience in initiating and developing arts organisations and overseeing charity governance, she has a track record of establishing organizations from the ground up. She devises strategic programs, cultivates partnerships, and formulates funding strategies. Her expertise includes successfully initiating and delivering programmes and projects across hospitals, schools, housing developments, transport and cultural infrastructure.

Moni Aisida is the Executive Director at Guest Artists Foundation. In addition to a background in Fintech and Health, Moni has over 8 years of experience in the arts industry, including at SMO Contemporary, Art X Lagos, and most recently, Affinity Gallery.

She is best known for her work with bringing to the fore, emerging art practices, and institutions.

Re:assemblages Project Co-ordinator

Samantha Russell is a London-based researcher, artist, and educator whose work explores African and Caribbean history, material culture, and the legacies of decolonisation. She holds an MA in Global Black Studies, Decolonisation and Social Justice (Distinction) from the University of West London. Samantha has experience in archival research, project coordination, and public engagement across institutions, including Yinka Shonibare Studio, The Design Museum, and The Barbican. Her practice bridges scholarship and creative expression, using textiles, exhibitions, and workshops to examine historical and contemporary issues while fostering dialogue across communities.