Lagos continues to live up to its reputation as the nerve system of African creativity, and with the debut of the Lagos Street Art Festival (LSAF) 2025, themed “Legendary Lagos: City of Dreams,” the city is making its largest public declaration that indeed creativity belongs to everyone, and art should live where people live.
Lagos Street Art Festival (LSAF), founded by Osa Okunkpolor (Osa Seven) and Akinlabi “Phisha” Akinbulumo, has evolved into Lagos’ first fully structured street art festival, supported by city agencies and global partners. More than a mural showcase, it reflects the rise of African street art as an economic force, a cultural voice, and a political tool for shaping modern African cities. The 2025 edition brings together 12 artists, nine Nigerian and three international, whose works capture Lagos’ intensity, diversity, and resilience, from Andrey Adno’s energetic portrait of the city to HK Locks’ themes of unity and Ashaolu Oluwafemi’s celebration of joy despite hardship.
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Behind the festival is a creative council committed to democratizing art: Osa Seven, Phisha, Karishma Daryani-Chugani, Adaora Mbelu, and leaders of LASPARK and LASAA, the institutions now championing street art rather than policing it. Their collaboration signals a growing interest, as Lagos joins cities like Dakar, Accra, Cape Town, and Johannesburg in embracing public art at scale. Although visibility is still growing, LSAF is accelerating Lagos’ artistic rebirth by embedding murals into urban planning and partnering with brands such as Adidas, Bature Brewery, LCC, and Berger Paints, marking a new era where public art becomes central to the city’s identity, culture, and the place of its creative economy globally.
The global street and contemporary art market is undergoing a major shift that increasingly benefits African creators, with the overall art market valued at about $57 billion in 2024 and post-war/contemporary art generating over $4 billion. Ultra-contemporary artists, especially those born after 1975, are driving the fastest growth, while street art and murals continue to attract strong youth-oriented spending. The market is also moving toward smaller, more affordable works, pushing total transactions to 39.4 million, the highest since 2019. With online platforms now responsible for over 63% of artworks sold under $5,000, street art’s digital-native, viral, and socially conscious nature positions it perfectly for sustained global momentum.
Africa’s contemporary art market is accelerating rapidly, with auction sales for African-born artists reaching $77.2 million in 2024 and the overall market projected to hit $1.5 billion in 2025. The broader creative industries already generate $13 billion annually, a figure Afreximbank expects to rise to $20 billion by 2030. Notably, women are leading this momentum, accounting for 52.8% of auction turnover, while star artists like Julie Mehretu continue to command global attention with sales surpassing $21.7 million in 2023.
Street art is becoming a powerful force within this growth story, driving urban regeneration, cultural tourism, and collaborations with commercial brands. It also boosts digital visibility for cities and artists alike. Lagos is a standout example, with 79 documented street artworks on the Street Art Cities platform, an impressive footprint for a city whose street art scene is only now entering a formal, globally recognised phase.
The 2025 LSAF presents a multi-week cultural journey built around storytelling, public art, and community engagement. It begins with Story Walls across the Lagos Mainland (Nov 25–27), followed by large-scale Public Art Murals that turn neighbourhoods into open-air galleries (Dec 4–10). Creatives are empowered through Design Thinking and Brand Storytelling workshops (Dec 10), while eight cultural leaders share insights during Fireside Chats on creativity, economics, and the art business (Dec 11). The festival also features a vibrant community Pop-Up event blending live painting, music, and culture (Dec 13), and culminates in the OSA 7 x 10 Exhibition (Dec 11–15), showcasing a decade of Osa Seven’s artistic influence and mentorship.
Artists across Lagos describe a creative movement shaped by resilience, identity, and community power. As muralist Ashaolu Oluwafemi puts it, “There’s struggle and joy, but Lagosians still find happiness. My mural reflects that.” Fellow artist Babalola Oluwafemi highlights the city’s unique electricity, saying, “Everything is different in Lagos, the reaction, the energy. The city talks back.” And for the organiser Osa Seven, the mission goes beyond individual success: “We’re building one of the biggest public art brands from Africa. But we must empower others.” Together, their voices show that African street art is ultimately about visibility, dignity, and hope, a cultural language that belongs to the people.
Lagos’s embrace of large-scale public art strengthens its position as Africa’s creative capital, driving tourism, economic activity, and vibrant community engagement. It channels art into urban planning, supports youth and creative employment, and transforms public spaces into cultural assets. This growing artistic ecosystem boosts Lagos’ global visibility while reinforcing the city’s ambition to be a hub for contemporary expression and cultural innovation.
Across Africa, the movement elevates the continent’s influence in global contemporary art and encourages cross-border collaborations, visual activism, and creative-economy expansion. Globally, it introduces new collectors to African street and digital art, reshapes the intersection between fine art and urban culture, and positions African artists as influential trendsetters. For administrators like Fatiu Akiolu of LASAA, the initiative integrates creativity with city development, enhances visual regulation, and builds a modern, globally resonant identity for Lagos.
Africa’s relationship with public art stretches back over 100,000 years, long before the rise of contemporary street art, rooted in traditions such as rock paintings, visual storytelling, symbolic communication, community murals, and collective expression. Colonial rule disrupted these practices, often dismissing African art as “primitive” even as Western artists like Picasso drew deeply from its forms. After independence, murals returned as powerful tools for political activism, cultural reclamation, post-colonial identity, and youth empowerment, with cities like Dakar, Nairobi, and Johannesburg leading the movement. Now, Lagos is stepping forward to reclaim its place in this long, evolving artistic lineage.
Despite rapid growth, Africa’s street art sector faces significant challenges. Limited public funding leaves many cities without dedicated mural budgets, while regulatory ambiguity complicates permissions for public spaces. Economic pressures such as inflation affect material costs and artist compensation, and security concerns can impact tourism and outdoor engagement. Additionally, a knowledge gap among collectors and a culture of short-term sponsorship hinder long-term development. Initiatives like the Lagos Street Art Festival (LSAF) aim to address these constraints by providing a structured and sustainable platform for artists and communities.
On a brighter note, the sector presents promising opportunities. Murals are increasingly linked to urban regeneration, while digital and AR tools like Sketchar expand storytelling possibilities. Street art is emerging as a tourism driver, and institutional partnerships with banks, developers, and governments are integrating art into city infrastructure. Pan-African networks are fostering collaboration between cities like Lagos, Dakar, Accra, and Nairobi, and younger artists are evolving into entrepreneurial professionals. LSAF positions Lagos not just as a vibrant megacity, but as a global creative hub, turning public walls into platforms for identity, cultural dialogue, and economic growth.
