Artist and researcher Chiizii has launched an interdisciplinary online research archive and multi-sited experiential teaching tool designed to educate and encourage conversation around pre and post-colonial Igbo diets.

Mariam Hava Aslam, M:ARCH Architecture alumnus from Central Saint Martins is the first of two practicioners to be selected for the University of the Arts London (UAL) Art for the Environment residency at Guest Artists Space. The programme, set up by Professor Lucy Orta, provides UAL graduates with the exceptional opportunity to apply for short residencies at internationally renowned host institutions to explore biodiversity, environmental sustainability, social economy and human rights. Mariam will be located at G.A.S. Lagos for the majority of her time with us but will also spend a week at the G.A.S. Farm House joining the first cohort of residents there.

Emma Prempeh's residency at G.A.S. Lagos starts this week. It is supported by Tiwani Contemporary through our Fellowship Platinum Partner donor package. She is Tiwani's inaugural Artist in Residence at G.A.S. and the gallery will present her most recent works at their Lagos venue on Victoria Island between the 8th of September and the 28th of October 2022.

Guest Artists Space Foundation began working collaboratively with Tiwani Contemporary in early 2022 following the opening of their new gallery space on Victoria Island, Lagos. The resulting opportunities are funded through our Fellowship Platinum Partner donor package, a giving level used to directly support three residency fellowship awards in Nigeria over a three-year period with a focus on African and African Diaspora recipients. In this instance, it allows artists who are either represented by or exhibiting with Tiwani to complete a one-month residency at G.A.S.

Last month we reached another exciting milestone with the completion of our first three residencies. The occasion was celebrated with a Resident's Presentation during which G.A.S. Fellowship recipients Femi Johnson and Uzor Ugoala, and TURN2 recipient Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock shared highlights from their experience with guests from Lagos and the wider Nigerian creative and cultural community.

Multidisciplinary Nigerian artist Ofem Ubi joins us this August after receiving the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship. We asked him to tell us more about his practice and how he hopes the opportunity might shape future creative projects.

Guest Projects Digital and Yinka Shonibare Foundation announced Chiizii as the recipient of a new pilot Digital Research Residency in June 2022. The initiative was conceived with the intention of providing an emerging, UK-based African and/or Caribbean diaspora curator or artist, with an opportunity to lead a collaborative research project investigating the intersection of art and design, ecology and food or migration and identity.

The themes and concept were inspired by the two unique buildings that lie at the heart of Guest Artists Space, the newly launched residency project in Nigeria developed by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA. The three-month residency was segmented into a two-month research period followed by a one-month digital public-facing programme.

Femi Johnson is a Director and Producer working in the fields of arts and culture and its future in the context of Digital Adoption moving into a web3.0 meta world. He is also one of the seven artists who received the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2022, we asked for insight into how he has found the experience so far.

Uzor Ugoala is one of the seven artists selected for the inaugural G.A.S. Fellowship Award earlier this year. We spoke to him about his plans, aspirations and experience of the opportunity so far.

We're excited to announce our participation in the World Weather Network, a ground-breaking alliance of 28 arts organisations from across the world formed in response to the global climate crisis.

As we enter the second half of the year we wanted to share some of our press highlights from the last four months. The coverage is an exciting mix of articles and news pieces reporting on the local launch of Guest Artists Space as well as an exclusive first look at the Farm House in Ijebu.