Sawt Falasteen - Nigerian youth in the spotlight at Lagos contemporary art fest

"I'm in love," the art collector and gallery owner said, as the work -- nearly as tall as she is -- stopped her in her tracks at +234Art Fair in Lagos.

She can't stay long though, if she hopes to finish winding her way through some 600 works from 200 young Nigerian artists on display -- the energy at the contemporary arts festival matching the always-humming pace of the megacity where it's hosted.

The country's art scene has descended on this year's +234 fair, where up-and-comers are in the spotlight at exhibitions meant to help them break through the insular market that Nigeria's cultural capital is sometimes known for.

"Lagos is obviously very saturated, the artists are very centralised," festival founder Tola Akerele, who is also behind the renowned Soto Gallery, told AFP. "So we really try and make sure we get artists from all over Nigeria to showcase their work."

Finding enough artists to break through the mould isn't particularly difficult in a Africa's most populous country, whose at-times eye-popping diversity is built from 220 million people and hundreds of languages and ethnic groups.

The trick is getting them exposure -- to allow new artists "to be able to live, earn, have a career", Akerele said.

- 'Potent' culture -

+234 isn't a bad deal for collectors either -- allowing amateurs to snag works for as low as 100,000 naira ($64), while still leaving space for those willing to spend on higher-priced works fetching up to four million naira.

Amid the sea of painters, sculptures and photographers at +234 -- named after Nigeria's country calling code -- gallery owners and seasoned buyers are also on the prowl, hoping to find the next undiscovered talent who could break through on the world stage.

For 29-year-old artist Abiodun Bodunrin, who works under the name "Peniel", the fair has not only been a chance to get his paintings in front of more people, but also to figure out who is who in a hard-to-enter scene.

"My main aim for the fair was to expand my network, to get more eyes to see my art, to meet patrons," he told AFP, as he displayed black-and-white paintings inspired by African symbolism.

"In a year or two from now, I want to be able to show my art in the biggest museums around the world."

The way collector, architect and +234 attendee Kelechi Odu sees it, the fair not only allows up-and-coming artists to present their own work, but also to be exposed to others.

"And that dialogue is what produces ecosystems of culture that become potent," he said.

But the impact of Nigeria's current economy -- at its worst in three decades as the country grinds through a cost-of-living crisis -- is hard to ignore.

Buyers are "becoming more specific and more targeted", he said. "You don't make choices that are casual."

- Cultural hub -

For the artists themselves, a certain resilience, rather than "gloom", is reflected in their work, said collector and gallery owner Ugoma Ebilah.

"What you see in the visual expressions, across forms, sculpture, painting, photography, music, is essentially a portrait of a people -- a people who are deeply resilient, highly innovative and creative, in spite of it all," she said.

Modern Nigerian artists have been on the rise since the 1980s and 1990s, when scattered across the diaspora wanted their homes "to reflect who they are and their culture," said Nkiru Nzegwu, a professor of African studies at Binghamton University, in the United States.

A vast economy at home has also meant plenty of domestic buyers, helping turn Lagos into a cultural hub for artists across West Africa.

That includes Keshiro, the gallerist.

She can't stop thinking about a sculpture that caught her eye.

"I'm trying to see how I can acquire that before anybody buys it," she said.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST