The need for Africans to tell their stories forms the fulcrum of maiden artists’ residency: Once Upon a Time (OUT), ‘Our Story First’, organised by Kokopelli Art Foundation, Lagos, the non-commercial arm of Kokopelli Gallery.

The residency, a structured creative retreat for artists of African origin and heritage whose practices are in active formation, is focused on the premise that the first account of a people should be given by them. “Africa has never been short of talent or of stories. What has been scarce is infrastructure: the access, the mentorship and the room in which a practice can be built rather than merely begun. Talent without infrastructure produces individual careers.
Infrastructure produces a generation,” said the gallery in a statement.

Featuring five young artists from four countries, Estifanos Solomon Gashaw (Ethiopia), Victor Anachuna (Nigeria), Putin Bempong (Ghana), Falhone Ogoun (Benin Republic) and Vurzie Kimnaton (Nigeria), the residency, which opened on August 24, ran till September 6, and is followed by a fifth anniversary exhibition, Epignosis I: Our Story First, opening to the public on September 12, 2026.

The residency had eight facilitators covering practice sustainability, artistic voice, materials and methods, iconography, research, copywriting and artist statements, legal protection (copyright and contracts), and personal branding: Qudus Onikeku (Sustaining the Practice), Seun Alli (African Artist’s Signature and Unique Voice), Ato Arinze (Materials and Methods), Prof. Abiodun Akande (Iconography), Victor Ehikhamenor (Research Methods), Belinda Doubara Yanga (Writing Your Practice: Copywriting and Artist Statements), Titilope Mustapha (Legal: Copyright, Contracts and Protecting Your Practice), and Taiwo Adeyemi (Personal Branding for Artists).

They were joined by five ‘flash mentors’ — Duke Asidere, Ayoola Gbolahan, Akinbode Adebiyi, Kelani Abass and Juliet Ezenwa — who each hosted a resident for a concentrated, one-day apprenticeship in their working studios.
These people supported the cohort to produce one resolved work each for the show, which runs until November 8 at Kokopelli Gallery, on Ademola Street, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The residency also involved field trips, where the artists immersed themselves in historical sites such as Old Secretariat in Marina, Badagry, Lagos Island, the Brazil Quarters, Jaekel House and Nigerian Railway in Ebute Metta.

Director of Kokopelli, Dare Herald, said the initiative is a response to a long-standing distortion of African narratives by outsiders. “We believe that Africa has a lot of stories to last generations. But over the years, a lot of our artists seem to be distracted because of many factors. It could be because that’s where they live; because it’s the trend of things to be; because that’s what the collectors want to buy, or something like that. But we know that we need to tell our stories by ourselves,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, in recent times, we’ve seen situations where foreigners tried to tell our stories for us. In the process of doing that they mix things up. So, we know that it’s best most times for us to tell our stories by ourselves so that we don’t lose context,”Herald said, adding, because of this, there are now African artists who are conscious and very intentional about the African story.

He said the programme is a deliberate revival of a dying culture of post-school apprenticeship in the visual arts.

According to him, “we believe that the culture of apprenticeship in arts is dying. Before, when an artist finishes from school, the person looks to position him/herself to a master, an established artists who gives him/her some rudiments of the art, as well as put them on a better foundation. This was life after school. That’s how it was done. But unfortunately, that culture is dying. So, we have to factor into the system and the structure of this residences that every year, our residence participants take in at least an established artist for one day. It is supposed to be an experimental phase, because this is the first time we’re doing it, but I think so far it’s been going so well.”

Selected from hundreds of applications, the inaugural cohort, the foundation’s first alumni, the OUTliers, so to say, genre spanned painting, printmaking, installation and photography, with practices oriented to social critique, identity, environment and the politics of representation.

The selection criteria emphasised two to five years of experience and a clear sense of self-identity. “We were looking for two to five years of experience. We had over 400 applications, those 500, but a lot of them were taken off because they had like five to 10 years of experience,” Herald said. “Secondly, we were looking for people who had inclinations. You know, self-identity.”

Herald noted that African artists have never been short of talent or stories. But that what has been scarce is infrastructure- the access, the mentorship, the opportunity – that allows those stories to become practices, careers and legacies.

“This residency is our contribution to building that. We called it Once Upon a Time because that is how a story announces itself before it begins. It signals that what follows is not a record but a telling, and that a telling belongs to whoever decides to tell it.”

According to Herald, “this is life after school and unfortunately the culture is dying, so, we have factored it into the system and structure of this residency. Every year, our residents and participants will be taken to at least one established artist for one day or half a day for a flash mentorship.”

Curator, Kokopelli Gallery, Mr. Jibola Williams, disclosed that the residency initiative by Herald resonated with him as a multidisciplinary artist and that it is designed to inspire next generation and make them remember that values of the old still have merit today.

“I feel strongly that as Africans, our heritage and culture, the things that have made us who we are, from our teachers, parents and communities, and our understanding of our cultural essence, even before Western and Asian influences, are very important.

“Those things have made us who we are, and we would like that tradition to be transferred. We feel with the art residency and the cachet around it, this is going to be very much affected.

“With the art residency, and with what Kokopelli as a gallery stands for, its ethos and its focus over the years, it has definitely been a pleasure,” he said.

He, however, noted that it was very challenging picking from over 400 applications, but every single person selected deserves a place in the residency.

For the artists, the residency meant much to them as they described their experiences as revealing, rewarding, inspiring and enriching. These they are taking home.

Pix: One of the artists, Falhone Ogoun, from Benin Republic at work.