Nomadic Gallery and sister brand BoConcept are set to host “Every House Remembers,” a compelling collaborative group exhibition that expands the definition of a house far beyond physical shelter. Opening on November 1 and running through November 28, 2026, the exhibition spans both shared spaces located at 22 Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island.
Curated by Mercy Imiegha, the exhibition brings together four acclaimed Nigerian artists, Francis Agemo, Duke Asidere, Gbolahan Ayoola and Ato Arinze, to examine how houses, human bodies and domestic objects function as interconnected vessels of memory, culture, history and spiritual presence.
“Every House Remembers” challenges visitors to rethink architecture not merely as a place we inhabit, but as something that lives within us.
“We tend to think of a house as somewhere we live. This exhibition asks us to think of it as something that lives in us, in our bodies, our objects and our inherited habits. These four artists show that every material carries memory,” notes Curator Mercy Imiegha.
The exhibition’s unique layout bridges fine art and living spaces. Artworks hang traditionally in the gallery while also integrating directly into furnished interiors inside the BoConcept showroom. This dual presentation allows visitors to move fluidly between gallery and domestic environments under one roof, physically mirroring the exhibition’s core premise: that the house, the body and the object are inseparable archives.
While the four artists do not share a single aesthetic, they are bound by a shared premise, which is that nothing we make, wear or live inside is ever truly neutral. Gbolahan Ayoola draws deeply on anthropology and archaeology, treating materials like charcoal, bonded earth, acrylic and bronze as a language in themselves. His intricate, symbol-laden surfaces function as visual archives that interrogate cultural identity, history and collective memory.
Duke Asidere builds canvases using thick, bold strokes and heavily textured oil layers. His painted surfaces act as a metaphorical skin recording the political, cultural and psychological pressures of his community.
Francis Agemo, based in Badagry, works primarily in wood, drawing on childhood memories surrounded by statuettes, totems and masks. His sawn and reassembled sculptures feature grotesque, caricature-like figures that balance cultural inheritance with sharp critique.
Ato Arinze, born in Lagos, subverts the traditional, utilitarian purpose of clay. Moving away from purely domestic functions, he transforms clay, the historic material of the vessel and the hearth, into a powerful carrier of testimony reflecting environmental and societal pressures.
- Featured image: Gbolahan Ayoola/supplied