Lagos, Nigeria – A major exhibition in Lagos is drawing young Nigerians toward the life and politics of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, whose artful defiance continues to echo across the country’s social and political landscape.
The showcase, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: Afrobeat Rebellion, opened on 12 October at the New Afrika Shrine and has become one of the central attractions of this year’s Felabration celebrations. The Lagos edition, running until 28 December, follows its first staging in France and is presented by A Whitespace Creative Arts Foundation in partnership with the French Embassy in Nigeria, the Kuti family and the Philharmonie de Paris.
Although many of the young visitors were born long after Fela’s death in August 1997, the organisers say the turnout shows how strongly his work continues to resonate. Among them is 23-year-old Gabriel Olaniran, who frequently attends shows by Fela’s son, Femi Kuti, but admits he is only now beginning to understand the force behind Fela’s music.
He says he imagines Femi’s messages as an extension of the political fire that shaped Fela’s career, adding that his curiosity about the Afrobeat pioneer has grown with every visit to the Shrine.
Lead curator Seun Alli says the team is witnessing a renewed public appetite for Fela’s legacy, driven in large part by Gen Z audiences who want to understand the icon whose songs mirrored Nigeria’s long-running struggles. She notes that the expanded Lagos space — more than 850 square metres, nearly double the size used in Paris — allows visitors to encounter Fela as a musician, thinker and uncompromising critic of authority.
Co-curator Mabinuori Kayode Idowu, a long-time associate of the musician, describes the exhibition as essential viewing for Nigerians. He recalls the years of political turmoil that shaped Fela’s activism, including the 1977 military raid on his Kalakuta Republic, during which soldiers burned his home, assaulted him and caused the fatal injuries that later claimed the life of his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
The exhibition’s creative director, Papa Omotayo, says the display was designed to immerse younger audiences through films, discussions, workshops and readings. He believes the social battles Nigerian youths are fighting today mirror the issues Fela confronted decades ago, from inequality to state brutality.
Storytelling lead Bolaji Animashaun adds that young artists involved in the project have offered their own interpretations of Fela’s spirit, capturing what she describes as a shared rebellion between today’s generation and the musician who turned art into resistance.
Idowu, who helped found the Young African Pioneers alongside Fela, says the singer’s relentless output and refusal to back down from military pressure remain central lessons for those seeking justice. He reflects on Fela’s exile in Ghana after the Kalakuta attack and the destruction of his unfinished film project, Black President, adding that the musician sacrificed his livelihood to stand up for ordinary Nigerians.
He believes Fela would have embraced social media as a tool for mobilisation, imagining what the musician’s reactions might have been during the height of army crackdowns.
Travel and culture writer Pelu Awofeso describes the Lagos exhibition as one of the most extensive Fela-focused showcases he has seen in two decades of covering Felabration. He says the scale reflects the global reverence for the Afrobeat pioneer and the continuing relevance of the questions he raised about power, identity and liberation.
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