27 years after his death, Fela isn’t just being remembered; he’s being reimagined.
On October 12, 2025, Lagos became home again to Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s spirit. Not as a distant memory, but as a living, breathing exhibition titled ‘Afrobeat Rebellion.’ The event opened at the Ecobank Pan African Centre, an expanded reimagining of the original 2022 show at the Philharmonie de Paris.
Ten exhibition rooms, weekly live programs, workshops, film screenings, talks, music, and fun interactive sessions. This isn’t just a gallery of relics. It is a multi-sensory, community-anchored cultural season.
“They should feel how it breathes today…”
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Papa Omotayo, the founder of A Whitespace Creative Agency (AWCA), who is a leading part of the exhibition, described how Lagos needed more than a “copy-paste” of the Paris edition. He shared that the goal was to stretch the exhibition into three months of cultural activation. “We have concerts, talks, programs for children … we train scenographers, teach audiovisual design specific to exhibitions.”
He mapped out the ten sections: Early Life, Lagos Baby, Daily Life, Kalakuta Republic, Queens, Shrine, and mirrored rooms where old Shrine and new Shrine visuals sit side by side. There are archival garments, instruments, rare prints — and inside the Queens section, a connecting thread between Fela’s wives and contemporary Nigerian women in rebel spaces.
“We didn’t want people just looking backwards. They should feel how it breathes today,” he said.
He intends to push Lagos to see Fela not as a museum piece, but as a movement that lives on.
What Yeni Kuti Said
Walking into the hall with her trademark regal poise, Yeni described this version of tribute as more fitting. “Art is appropriate. We’ve always included art in Felabration over the years. This time, it’s the primary vehicle.”
She emphasised that Fela’s message was not just about resistance but emancipation: freedom from colonial mentalities, bad governance, and silence. For Yeni, this exhibition must provoke thought, not just comfort nostalgia.
Fela Comes Home
On the red carpet, Laurent Favier (Consulate General of France in Nigeria) stressed that this exhibition is both cultural diplomacy and a reclaiming. He noted long collaboration with the Kuti family, Ecobank, and the Paris Philharmonie and framed the show as a “message of hope” for Africa and the world.
He pointed out that bringing Afrobeat Rebellion to Lagos is a natural return. France helped launch it abroad, but Nigeria must now house its own narrative.
How It Feels to Be There
I spoke with Halima, an attendee. For her, it’s an honour to be at the exhibition. What struck her most was the pictures in the Queens section, spotlighting Fela’s dancers and their impact on his legacy.
For her, “they’re underrepresented — seen just as Fela’s dancers, like they weren’t anything else.”
Overall, she described her experience at the exhibition on opening night as special. It helps her “absorb everything at once.”
Her takeaway from the exhibition and Fela’s life:
“Be yourself … that can be your first step to building a legacy”
Walking through those rooms with her and others experiencing the exhibition, you feel layers — his childhood, home, music, and message.
Fela’s art was never closed. It remains open and shared.
That’s why you should be at this exhibition. It gives you a glimpse of Fela, a perpetual force, his ideas, politics, and his music. Here, the past is woven into the present Lagos.
From October 12 to December 28, 2025, Afrobeat Rebellion is open Fridays to Sundays (10:00 AM–6:00 PM) at the Ecobank Pan African Centre. RSVP is required for talks, workshops, and film screenings; general entry is free.
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