How the Access ART X prize has shaped Dafe Oboro’s artistry
Dafe Oboro, the Nigerian recipient of the 2023 Access ART X Prize, shares how the prestigious award is empowering African artists to tell their own stories.
Returning home
Dafe Oboro’s journey to the Access ART X Prize began with a formative return to Lagos, Nigeria. For the aspiring artist, this was a homecoming.
Dafe, who has since gone to become one of Nigeria’s most exciting, multifaceted storytellers, was returning to Nigeria from studying in the UK, to explore the socio-political landscape and themes of temporal and spatial movement.
What the artist wasn’t expecting was that the trip, to document the lives of Lagos’ slum dwellers, would lead to a renewed connection with the community – and a new creative purpose.
“From the very first day I returned, I knew that this was where I wanted to be,” Dafe explains. “For the rest of my life, I would direct, produce, film, create – but this world, my world, was to be the focus.”
Dafe’s return to Lagos coincided with a renaissance in Nigerian creativity. The continent was diverging from the reductive trend of importing Western interpretations of the African experience and moving towards art created by and for Africa. The Access ART X Prize, a leading initiative that nurtures up and coming talent, was playing an important role in this shift. As Dafe says:
It was exciting, for sure. But without any marketing and representation, at that time my work had to speak for itself.
Dafe Oboro
From Boy, You’re Beautiful – a film series that explored young masculinity in Nigeria – to collaborations with Vlisco&co, The Face, Dazed Magazine, and Beyonce – on her seminal Black is King – Dafe began to carve out a niche, producing work that shone a light on the everyday urban experience in Nigeria.
Discovering ART X Lagos
Dafe’s creative evolution received a significant boost in the form of ART X Lagos.
First attending ART X Lagos’ in 2016, the artist felt an overwhelming sense of purpose and belonging in being surrounded by homegrown art.
“It was a huge moment for me,” Dafe recalls. “It was the first time I was in a space with so much art that was made in Africa.”
Impressed by the organization’s role as a hub for spotlighting emerging African talent, Dafe’s relationship with ART X Lagos deepened over the years, culminating in You Can Hear the City, a 2019 ART X Live! photographic exhibition that captured the urban soundscape of Lagos.
So perhaps it was destiny that in 2022 Dafe was ready to apply for the prestigious Access ART X prize. Funded by Access Corporation, the $10,000 grant for emerging artists in Nigeria sends winners on a fully funded exploratory residency in London, and since its inception in 2016 has propelled early-career creatives to global recognition.
But the application posed a unique challenge, requiring Dafe to focus not on the art, but on the artist. This departure added a layer of vulnerability to the endeavor – a daunting prospect, but one that marked an important step towards self-affirmation.
“I knew that I had to put my best work forward. But more than that I had to, for the first time, show the authentic me, and the experiences that have shaped my art,” Dafe explains.
The approach was successful, and in awarding Dafe the 2022 Access ART X Prize, the jury celebrated the artist’s dedication to producing work that “destabilizes the often reductive understandings of Africa in mainstream popular media to open up room for a more nuanced engagement.”
Creative liberation
The transformative impact of the Access ART X Prize unfolded through a three-month residency at Gasworks that focused on the exploration of identity and migration. With Access’ support, Dafe was able to venture beyond the confines of traditional mediums, delving into sound as an independent form of artistic expression.
“Right from the beginning I was given support to push my work further,” Dafe explains. Whether it be financial or emotional, or just having someone to listen, it released me from the worries many artists face in creating their work.”
For Dafe, Access’ emphasis on artistic integrity speaks volumes, with the artist arguing that the funding plays a pivotal role in liberating artists from financial and geographical constraints – allowing them to dream without worrisome practical burdens.
Beyond Dafe’s success story, Access continues to open doors for emerging artists across Africa and its diaspora. By incubating talent and providing a launchpad for exposure, Access’ partnership with ART X Collective, the company that created ART X Prize, ART X Lagos, and ART X Live!, contributes significantly to building a vibrant and empowered future for African art.
