Manny Ita –
Spontaneous street murals have appeared across parts of Ikeja and Surulere as artists kick off a pre-festival guerrilla art movement ahead of this year’s Lagos Street Art Festival. The unsanctioned works have surfaced on walls, bridges, and abandoned structures, drawing attention from residents and commuters in the affected areas.
Organizers and participating artists say the murals are part of an intentional lead-up to the annual festival, designed to bring art directly into public spaces ahead of the main events. This year’s festival theme is “Resilience,” which reflects what artists describe as the prevailing national mood and the creative community’s response to ongoing security and economic challenges.
“This is about showing that creativity can survive and even thrive under pressure,” one participating artist said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the informal nature of the installations. “The streets are our gallery, and resilience is something everyone in this city understands.”
Festival organizers confirmed that the official Lagos Street Art Festival will proceed as scheduled, with the guerrilla artworks expected to remain in place as part of the broader conversation the event seeks to spark about public art, urban identity, and social endurance.
