By Adefoyeke Ajao

On February 10, the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos, which recently celebrated its first decade of existence, kicked off its first exhibition for 2018. Titled “Local Space, Transnational Connections”, the exhibition examines the architectural development of Lagos State through the Brazilian Quarters and its contribution to “a dynamic, modern city imbued with a late 19th Century and early 20th Century cosmopolitanism”. It merges colourful images taken by late J.D. Okhai Ojeikere, Mario Pfeifer (Germany), Ayo Akinwande (Nigeria) and Tatewaki Nio (Brazil/Japan) into a visual narrative about Lagos’ structural development.

Curated by Bisi Silva, the stars of this exhibition are undisputedly the images of ‘old Lagos’ taken by late photography veteran J.D. Ojeikere. These images, selected from “Eko: Landmarks of Lagos, Nigeria” a 1999 brochure of Lagos-based monuments commissioned by Mandilas, feature some of the structures that once embodied the city’s Afro-Brazilian history. Through Ojeikere’s lens, we see the architecture that characterised the areas typically described as Brazilian Quarters in ‘old Lagos’ – areas populated by returnees who replicated Brazilian structural designs in Lagos.

Mario Pfeifer and Tatewaki Nio trace this shared culture to the slave trade and its subsequent displacement of West Africans to Brazil. Pfeifer’s contribution to the exhibition, a short film titled ‘Point Of No Return,’ features interviews with surviving descendants of the returnees as well as a look at the current states of some of the buildings within the Brazilian Quarters. Nio, on the other hand, explores familial ties as well as contemporary migration amongst Brazilian returnees resident in West Africa and African residents of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

While Ojeikere’s images detail the past glory of these buildings as well as the magnificent history behind them, the other narratives tilt towards their gradual extinction. Some of these structures are currently in states of disrepair and are being demolished to accommodate ultramodern structures and the government’s mega-city agenda. Akinwande’s images capture the modern-day attitude towards these monuments with his documentation of the demolition of the Ilojo Bar – a structure built in 1855 – in 2016.

The works of the four visual artists can be described as distinct pieces that bond into a comprehensive view of Lagos’ transnational heritage. By taking images from the past and merging them with those of the present, “Local Space, Transnational Connections” underscores a heritage that is at risk of yielding to the juggernaut of urbanisation.

“Local Space, Transnational Connections” is at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Yaba until 17th March