Artmiabo

  Before PlayStation and Xbox: How Deolu Femi Preserves African Childhood Through Contemporary Paper Art When discussions about African heritage begin, they often focus on kingdoms, architecture, languages, and historical monuments. Yet some of the most significant parts of African identity exist within ordinary childhood experiences that were never formally documented. Nigerian contemporary artist Deolu Femi is changing that narrative. At the Artmiabo International Art Festival (AMIAF) 2026 , themed African Art, Heritage & Legacy , Femi presents Before PlayStation and Xbox , a remarkable body of layered paper sculptures exploring how childhood games became powerful foundations for African identity and community. Childhood as Cultural Memory Rather than approaching childhood with nostalgia, Deolu Femi treats it as an archive of shared African experience. His work revisits familiar games such as Tinko Tinko , Ten Ten , Suwe , and In and Out,  activities that once tra...

  Babs Johnson at Artmiabo International Art Festival 2026: Reimagining African Heritage Through Digital Abstraction Can digital art preserve African heritage as powerfully as traditional forms? Artist Babs Johnson believes the answer is yes. As one of the featured artists at the Artmiabo International Art Festival (AMIAF) 2026 , Johnson presents a compelling body of work that explores African identity through emotion, memory, spirituality, and contemporary digital aesthetics. Rather than documenting history literally, his practice investigates the invisible experiences that continue to shape African life today. Heritage Beyond Physical Objects For generations, African heritage has often been represented through sculpture, textiles, architecture, ceremonial objects, and historical artifacts. Johnson expands this conversation. His work proposes that heritage also exists within emotions, inherited memories, resilience, spiritual awareness, and personal identity. These invisib...

  Favour Enumah's Noir Bloom : How Contemporary African Art Explores Identity, Transformation and Legacy Discover the work of Favour Enumah (FAE), a contemporary Nigerian multidisciplinary artist whose Noir Bloom series explores identity, transformation, vulnerability, and emotional depth. Experience her work at the Artmiabo International Art Festival (AMIAF) 2026 in Abuja. Contemporary African art is increasingly shifting beyond representation to examine the emotional and psychological experiences that shape human identity. Among the artists contributing to this evolving conversation is Favour Enumah (FAE) , whose multidisciplinary practice explores transformation, vulnerability, and the continuous process of becoming. Her work will be featured at the Artmiabo International Art Festival (AMIAF) 2026 under the theme African Art, Heritage & Legacy . A Practice Rooted in Becoming Working under the name FAE , Favour Enumah describes her practice through the concept of Noir Bl...

  Rolin Pettway Jr.: Where Black Pop Culture, Spirituality and Childlike Expression Meet What happens when an artist deliberately abandons perfection, rejects conventional mastery and returns to the freedom of creating like a child? For multidisciplinary artist Rolin Pettway Jr. , this is not simply an artistic experiment. It is a spiritual, philosophical and cultural investigation into how images communicate, how objects carry meaning and how art can build community and preserve legacy. Working at the intersection of Black pop culture, Christian spirituality, abstraction and contemporary art , Pettway creates work that invites viewers to look beyond technical perfection and engage with deeper questions about faith, identity, representation and human connection. Art as Conversation, Information and Legacy Pettway approaches art as more than an object to be viewed. He considers art a vehicle for conversation, information exchange and community-building. His multidisciplinary practic...

  African heritage is not static. It evolves. It grows with every generation that chooses to reinterpret tradition rather than merely preserve it. This philosophy lies at the heart of the Artmiabo International Art Festival (AMIAF) 2026 , where artists from across Africa will gather under the theme "African Art, Heritage & Legacy." Among them is Nigerian contemporary sculptor Obinna Adiele , whose remarkable metal sculptures demonstrate how innovation can become an extension of cultural identity. From 28 September to 1 October 2026 at the FCT Exhibition Pavilion, Abuja , visitors to AMIAF will encounter artists who are redefining African art for the twenty-first century. Obinna Adiele stands among this generation, not simply because of what he creates, but because of what his work represents. When Metal Becomes Memory Steel is often associated with industry, infrastructure, and machinery. In Obinna Adiele's hands, however, it becomes something profoundly human. ...