By Simpson Global Media News Desk
Nigerian-British multidisciplinary artist and designer Orry Shenjobi is preparing to unveil a new exhibition in Ibadan that brings Yoruba and Benin cultural traditions into conversation with contemporary art, architecture and product design.
The project, titled Àdúrà Lẹ́rẹ̀, is scheduled to open to the public on November 12, 2026, at New Culture Studios in Ibadan, Oyo State. It explores how inherited craftsmanship, spirituality, family memory and indigenous knowledge can continue to influence the way Nigerians create and design for modern life. <Cite refs={["turn681260search6","turn681260search11","turn681260search5"]}/>
The exhibition places traditional systems of making at the centre of a contemporary creative project. Rather than treating heritage as something that belongs only in museums or historical collections, Shenjobi’s approach considers how the techniques, materials and ideas passed down through generations can be adapted for new purposes.
The project arrives amid growing conversations about preserving Nigeria’s cultural heritage while supporting contemporary artists, designers and craftspeople. Its focus on traditional knowledge and modern design raises a broader question for the creative sector: how can cultural traditions remain meaningful and economically valuable as society changes?
What Àdúrà Lẹ́rẹ̀ seeks to explore
The title Àdúrà Lẹ́rẹ̀ draws on Yoruba language and ideas surrounding prayer and its significance. The artist has described the project as an exploration of cultural memory, identity, faith and the continued value of craftsmanship.
According to coverage of the forthcoming exhibition, the work draws on Yoruba and Benin carving traditions and combines inherited making techniques with contemporary design. It is intended to encourage visitors to consider how traditional knowledge can shape the objects, spaces and environments people create today. <Cite refs={["turn681260search6","turn681260search11"]}/>
The project has developed over several years of research and was further shaped by Shenjobi’s residency at New Culture Studios earlier in 2026. The artist’s own professional updates describe the exhibition as a significant stage in an ongoing investigation of cultural heritage, material knowledge and design. <Cite refs={["turn681260search5"]}/>
The exhibition is therefore not simply a presentation of finished objects. Its underlying ideas connect the process of making with the histories and experiences that give cultural objects meaning.
For artists and designers, this approach can offer a way to work with tradition without limiting creativity to reproducing historical forms. Materials, techniques and design principles can be examined, reinterpreted and used to address contemporary needs.
Bringing Yoruba and Benin traditions into contemporary design
Yoruba and Benin artistic traditions are associated with distinctive histories of carving, sculpture, architecture and craftsmanship. These traditions have developed through generations of skilled makers, patrons, communities and institutions.
Their influence can be seen in the treatment of materials, the symbolic significance of objects and the relationships between art, spirituality, authority and everyday life. Yet cultural objects are not merely decorative products: their meanings are often shaped by the communities and histories in which they were created.
Shenjobi’s exhibition proposes a contemporary conversation with these traditions. By drawing on inherited forms of making while working within modern design, the project invites visitors to consider how cultural knowledge can be carried forward rather than left behind.
This does not mean that every historical technique must be preserved unchanged. Craft traditions have always existed within living communities, where makers respond to available materials, changing needs and new influences. Contemporary interpretation can be part of that continuity when it recognises the origins and significance of the knowledge being used.
At the same time, responsible engagement with cultural heritage requires care. Artists, institutions and commercial designers must consider attribution, the communities associated with particular traditions and the difference between learning from heritage and removing cultural elements from their context.
These questions are increasingly relevant as Nigerian creative work reaches audiences through galleries, digital platforms, international exhibitions and commercial collaborations.
Why traditional craftsmanship matters
Craftsmanship involves more than the production of a physical object. It can preserve practical knowledge about materials, tools, construction methods, finishing techniques and the environmental conditions in which particular forms of making developed.
Such knowledge is often passed on through observation, apprenticeship and repeated practice. When a craft tradition loses its practitioners or the market for their work disappears, parts of that knowledge can become difficult to recover.
Projects that document, reinterpret or create new demand for traditional craftsmanship can help keep those skills visible. They may also encourage younger designers to explore the relationship between local materials and contemporary production.
However, exhibitions alone cannot guarantee the long-term survival of craft traditions. Sustaining them requires opportunities for practitioners to earn a living, access to training, appropriate materials, recognition of intellectual and cultural contributions, and customers who value the work.
The significance of Àdúrà Lẹ́rẹ̀ will therefore extend beyond its presentation as an art installation if it encourages further collaboration among traditional craftspeople, contemporary designers, cultural institutions and the wider public.
Prayer, memory and cultural identity
The exhibition’s focus on prayer and memory gives the project a personal dimension alongside its wider interest in heritage and design.
Religious and spiritual practices have influenced architecture, objects, artistic expression and communal life in many Nigerian societies. These influences can be expressed through materials, forms, spaces and the ways objects are used or understood.
Memory also shapes cultural identity. Family histories, community experiences and inherited skills can influence how people understand their place in society and how they imagine the future.
By bringing these themes together, Shenjobi’s project asks visitors to consider how personal experience and collective heritage can inform creative practice. It also suggests that cultural identity need not be fixed in the past: it can remain active as people reinterpret the knowledge and traditions they inherit.
That perspective may be particularly relevant to younger Nigerians navigating the relationship between local traditions and global cultural influences.
Ibadan as a setting for the exhibition
The decision to stage the exhibition at New Culture Studios in Ibadan gives the project a setting within Nigeria’s own creative environment.
Ibadan has a longstanding place in the country’s cultural and intellectual life, and exhibitions held in the city can create opportunities for artists, students, designers and members of the public to engage with ideas beyond conventional commercial galleries.
New Culture Studios has also been central to the development of Shenjobi’s project through the artist’s residency earlier in the year. The relationship between the work and its setting is therefore part of its development, rather than simply a venue choice. <Cite refs={["turn681260search5","turn681260search11"]}/>
The exhibition is scheduled to open publicly on November 12, following a programme of preview activities announced for November 5–13. Further details of the programme have been described as forthcoming, so visitors should consult the organisers’ official channels for confirmed opening arrangements, access information and any related events. <Cite refs={["turn681260search5"]}/>
The creative economy and the value of heritage
Nigeria’s creative economy encompasses film, music, fashion, visual art, design, publishing, crafts and related industries. These sectors can create employment, attract investment and introduce Nigerian stories and artistic practices to international audiences.
Traditional craftsmanship can contribute to that economy in several ways. Designers may work with local makers to develop new products; cultural institutions can support exhibitions and documentation; and creative businesses can build markets for work that draws on indigenous materials and techniques.
But commercial opportunity should not be confused with automatic benefit for every participant. The distribution of income, recognition and ownership matters, especially when a project uses knowledge associated with a particular community or tradition.
A sustainable model would give craftspeople and knowledge holders a meaningful role in decisions, ensure fair compensation and create pathways for skills to be passed to new generations.
For contemporary artists, the challenge is to make work that can speak to present-day audiences while acknowledging the people and histories that inform it. For cultural institutions, the task is to support experimentation without reducing heritage to a marketable visual style.
What audiences can expect
The forthcoming exhibition is being presented as a site-specific installation, bringing together traditional making techniques and contemporary product design. Its themes include prayer, cultural memory, identity and the future of Nigerian craftsmanship. <Cite refs={["turn681260search6","turn681260search11"]}/>
The precise visitor experience, full exhibition inventory and detailed public programme should be confirmed through New Culture Studios or the artist’s official channels as the opening approaches.
For visitors, the project offers an opportunity to think about heritage through the process of making: the materials used, the knowledge required to work with them and the ways an object or design can carry meanings from one generation to another.
It may also prompt questions about how cultural knowledge is documented, who has the authority to interpret it and how artists can acknowledge tradition while creating something new.
These questions are relevant not only to visual art but also to architecture, furniture, fashion, product design and other fields where inherited techniques can inform contemporary work.
Keeping heritage alive through new interpretations
The development of Àdúrà Lẹ́rẹ̀ highlights one approach to cultural preservation: making traditional knowledge part of ongoing creative practice.
Preservation does not always require a tradition to remain unchanged. In many cases, it depends on whether people continue to learn, use and adapt the knowledge associated with it. Yet change is most meaningful when it is informed by an understanding of the tradition’s history and context.
Shenjobi’s planned exhibition brings that discussion into a contemporary art setting, using Yoruba and Benin traditions as a foundation for exploring the relationship between memory, spirituality and design.
Its longer-term impact will depend on audience engagement, the opportunities it creates for dialogue and whether the conversations it generates lead to further collaboration and support for practitioners.
As the November opening approaches, Àdúrà Lẹ́rẹ̀ is positioned to contribute to a wider discussion about how Nigerian heritage can inform the future of creative work. Its central proposition is that traditional craftsmanship need not be confined to the past: it can remain a living source of knowledge, identity and innovation.
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