Nike Art Gallery is an art and culture exhibition centre located in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Prior to my visit, my sister in law had been here like twice or more and she made it look so dreamy with the photos I saw on snapchat I wanted to have a look myself. It’s also literally very close by to me so I really had no excuse.

I was a bit disappointed when we got there and there was no power. It’s supposed to be a tourist attraction how can there be no electricity??? We asked one of the employees when there was gonna be light and her response wasn’t reassuring. There was a dreamy display of art all over inside and I made a mental note to come back on a weekend. Quick one: There’s no 24 hour electricity where I live and most businesses operate with generators. Their generator was most likely faulty.

However, my visit didn’t go to waste because I was able to appreciate the art outside the building. It was a lot of different beautiful things in a not so big space. From steel dinner sits and table to wooden rocking chairs, a rubber alligator, statues, portraits and a lot of handmade decor all for sale incase you’re wondering.

Ayo is a popular board game I grew up playing so I thought this was really cool. I kind of thought everything out here was really cool. This piece goes beyond the game though. The way the players are dressed reeks of culture ; Yoruba culture

At this point, I wondered if I could continue taking pictures because I had heard that pictures were not allowed but nobody stopped me.

Then I stumbled on the masquerade above. Eyo is a popular celebrated masquerade in Lagos. There’s an Eyo festival every year which is always huge and is actually a tourist event. The amazing thing about this piece is that most of it is made of PLUGS. If this isn’t talent then I don’t know what it is.

Visiting the gallery definitely hit my creativity nerve. It made me appreciate art and my culture even more. If you’re in Lagos or you intend to visit soon and you will like to visit the gallery, you can contact them here to book a tour.

Thanks for reading.

Mariam Shittu
xo