Across West Africa, a quiet and seismic shift is redefining art and museum culture. Once it was served as a static repository of colonial artifacts by Western critics and mainstream media, the region is now overturning these narratives and reshaping the meaning of creation, preservation and display of African art. This transformation is not limited to new expressions of cultural authenticity. Focusing on the past and present, it challenges the basis for how African art interprets and values it. As institutions restore narrative authority at the center and place cultural identity in cultural identities, they claim an incorrect existence in a global discourse long dominated by Western institutions.
A vivid example of this shift is the recently closed exhibition “Eight Masters of Printmaking Exhibitions” which opened in early August at Fobally Art World Africa in Lagos, Nigeria. The show called together some of the region’s most influential printmakers and paid tribute to Uche Okeke, Solomon Wangboje and Bruce Onobrakpeya, a member of the Trailblazing of the Zaria rebels. At that time, colonial art schools enjoyed the privilege of European style, perspectives and realism, but the Zariya rebels rejected the idea that African art must imitate European standards to improve in order to be seen as legitimate. They resisted courses designed to cut them off from their own cultural and visual traditions. For example, Onobrakpeya injected his work into abstract patterns from Nigerian folklore, including Urhobo mythical figures and Uli or Nsibidi symbols. Through their contempt, printmaking has transformed from imitation to one of cultural affirmations, a legacy proposed by contemporary artists who continue to expand African visual identity today.
“The Zaria rebels preached the use of natural synthesis, which has experiments with different forms, patterns and patterns; these materials are usually sourced locally,” Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, a maker of printmaking, told Observer. Today, the processes and methods advocated by the rebels are still seen in today’s modern art, which draws on local culture and environment, not created for the Western gaze, as Adeyemi notes. “My job is to record and tell stories about who we are by using locally sourced materials, which gives it a unique and traditional nature.”
His practice embodies a wider generational continuity, which is equally evident in the works of emerging artists that appear in the exhibition. This cultural shift places African perspectives at the center of art, printmaking and cultural production, opening the door to a new wave of contemporary artists. Among them is Adedamola Onadeko, whose work reflects an evolving narrative shaped by local heritage. “Like the Zariya Rebels, I took a bold, vibrant colour, moving away from the norms of colonial arts to embrace a vibrant African-style palette. The direct nod that blends natural elements such as Flora and Fauna is the rebels’ emphasis on indigenous themes and cultures and is based on my work. My work ultimately constitutes my work. Amplify the African voice.”
At the heart of this cultural awakening is a renewed commitment to local storytelling. Institutions such as the Museum of Black Civilization in Dakar and the Théodore Monod Museum are embracing community-led exhibitions and multilingual labels, removing the long-term hierarchy between curators and audiences. The location of Nigeria’s upcoming West African Art Museum (EMOWAA), led by Nigerian-born architect Sir David Adjaye, helps challenge the exhibition model of the European Centre and enhance African storytelling. Emowaa is considered not to be a repository of another object, but rather a phase of narratively driven exhibitions that reflect the way art lives in festivals, verbal traditions and public rituals. The artifact will no longer be like the inert artifacts in the vitreous body of peeling background. They will act as vessels of performance, memory and identity. Institutions like the Nubuke Foundation and the Lagos Center for Contemporary Art have been pioneering exhibition and educational methods for these alternative methods that reject Western gazes and tend toward local perspectives.
The push to restore the plundered African artifacts, conquered by initiatives such as the 2018 Sarr-Savoy Report, has therefore renewed the call for accountability and cultural sovereignty. While the headlines have attracted much attention from the likes of Benin Bronze, deeper movements go far beyond physical objects. What is endangered are the issues of ownership, memory and power. This shift no longer depends on European approval. African curators, scholars and activists are building their own museums, archives and digital repatriation platforms. New academic programs and pan-African cultural policies will be restored to their original state into broader justice, education and empowerment. Together, these efforts represent more than just a systematic commitment to narrative abilities.
Digital tools are driving this shift forward. Savama-DCI projects such as the digitization of Timbuktu manuscripts and the African platform for museum futures are prying open channels for cultural heritage once locked in colonial archives or leaving dormant in under-asset collections. By digitizing and documenting African artifacts, these initiatives equip museums with cross-border collections, engaging communities in storytelling and reshaping curatorial practices. This approach undermines traditional gatekeepers in African history while promoting a decentralized, collaborative knowledge network. It also allows institutions to actually display traditional works that might otherwise be fired or excluded, thereby attracting new audiences and expanding connections.
West Africa has moved on as the global art community continues to fight against the colonial past. Conditional returns and long-term loans from European institutions often give compensation a kind of busyness rather than a right, while imposing restrictions on ownership, display and protection, namely institutions designed to be disguised by generosity. Today, West African institutions are developing their own curriculum to pursue something more lasting: the reintegration of tradition, innovation and sovereignty. Restoring the original state is no longer a problem of returning the problem taken. It’s about changing the identity of art and commissioning African voices (artists, historians and storytellers) to decide how to share, curate and live.
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