If you were an artist trying to depict the essence of Lagos, Nigeria, what would you create? Sunshine Alaibe would grab a blank canvas and splatter different colours on it. There would be streaks and blobs of pinks, blues, yellows and greens. It will be eclectic and chaotic, but beautiful.

The city’s energy has been documented in different forms. While many intimately know Lagos through its food, music, fashion and traffic, not many have been able to experience it through its art. The galleries are not a constant feature in people’s lives, they are a destination for the odd days where everything feels prosaic. But even when those days surface, there are only a handful of locations that people visit to feel something. This leaves a large number of institutions in the industry as a hidden gem, known only to those whose lives revolve around it.

Visibility is necessary for a visual industry to thrive, so when Lagos Gallery Weekend (LGW) Director, Sunshine Alaibe was faced with the decision to let the initiative die out after its first edition, or to take it on and expand it, she chose the latter. From the 28th to 30th of March 2025, Lagos came alive for the second edition of LGW themed Discover Lagos Through Art, a movement that spotlights galleries and cultural institutions whose hard work often goes unnoticed. With twenty art galleries participating, including Rélé, O’DA Art, Sachs Gallery, Kó Art Space, and five cultural institutions including CA, JK Randle Centre, Yemisi Shyllon Museum, Grillo Art, Alliance Francais and Goethe Institute, the weekend was a celebration of art in its various forms.