Lagos is set to make history with the launch of the continent’s first public international collection of contemporary art. The announcement comes as part of the upcoming fifth edition of the Lagos Biennial, scheduled to run from October 17 to December 18, 2026.
Themed “The Museum of Things Unseen,” the 2026 edition, according to a statement, will challenge traditional museology concepts while inaugurating the prestigious Àkéte Collection, an innovative initiative aimed at reshaping the landscape of contemporary art preservation and presentation in Africa.
Curators, Furen Dai, Chinyere Obieze and Sam Hopkins are initiating a conceptual museum that brings together various never-or-rarely exhibited works from art collections and museums worldwide. Artists are invited to engage with these works, reinterpret them and thus question the narratives inscribed in them. The artistic inventions are intended to create new perspectives for existing understandings and interpretations of these works and, furthermore, to explore and sharpen the (supposedly) (in)visible.
The Àkéte Collection’s debut in October 2026 promises to be a major milestone for the African art scene.
Further enriching the discourse, the biennial will host an international colloquium featuring academics and museum specialists. This forum will provide a platform to delve into critical issues surrounding heritage circulation, restitution, universal museum. Discussions on these topics are sure to spark important conversations about representation, repatriation and the future of museums in a globalised world.
The Lagos Biennial operates with a strong commitment to community needs, environmental responsibility. Independent of government or structural funding, the platform prioritises artistic innovation, tackling social and political issues, engaging new audiences and fostering novel modes of interaction with the art world.
This upcoming edition promises to be a landmark event, pushing boundaries and challenging traditional notions of museums.
