A multimedia artist Seidougha Eyimiegha, best known as Mr. Danfo, says the city of Lagos is shaped not only by its physical structures but also by unseen forces, silent presences, and hidden pathways.
Eyimiegha made this known in an interview with the News Men on Saturday in Lagos.
The artist is currently hosting a three-day Open Studio Exhibition showcasing some of his works. The exhibition, themed “Mr Danfo Uncurated,” runs from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6.
In one of his featured works, Invisible Pedestrians, Eyimiegha presents Lagos as more than a bustling metropolis depicting it as a city infused with ancestral memory and invisible energies.
According to the Lagos-based Artist, the urban environment carries deeper spiritual dimensions than people often acknowledge.
He explained that his work explores the metaphysical forces that influence behaviour, rhythm, and movement across Lagos.
The artist recalled hearing an elderly man once say, “we must wait for the spirits to pass,” reinforcing his belief that modern cities are built upon layers of ancestral presence.
“We have ancestors; there’s a deposit of who we are or what we are going to become interacting with the urban space.”
“Each city has a different kind of spirit. It’s something that happens across African tribes that we know.”
“We wouldn’t know how our own activity would alter its normal order just to allow them to pass,” he said.
His work, done using acrylic on canvas, acrylic on wood and mixed media, reinterprete everyday signs, as conduits for cultural and spiritual memory.
In the Invisible Pedestrians, Eyimiegha merges pedestrian symbols with masquerade iconography, drawing from traditions where masquerades serve as a connection between the living and the dead.
“When you think about the urban spaces; in some countries they do have customised pedestrian signs that reflect them and their reality or their people.”
“We are a people of a different kind of culture including masquerading our signs.”
“In a city where occasionally we still find masquerades coming out, it’s not out of place.”
“I don’t know how spiritual they are now, but back in the day we always understood that the performance of masquerading was a connection between the living and the dead,” he said.
The artist linked Lagos’ fast-paced living, restless energy and relentless movement to the city’s intangible forces.
“People generally just want to move all the time. It’s something about Lagos,” he said.
NAN/Oluchi
About the Author
