The exhibition breathed new life into spectacular African sculptures, celebrating and redefining the rich artistic history of Nigeria
Date: 28 October 2026
On Friday 23 October, London Metropolitan University hosted an exhibition of recreated pre-20th century Nigerian sculptures.
The exhibition, created by Dr Adeyemi Akande from the School of Art, Architecture and Design, was open to the public and included photographs and AI generated images reimagining traditional African sculptures.
Breathing new life into spectacular 14th and 17th century artwork, the recreated images invited the audience to witness a revival of centuries-old fashion, hairstyles and accessories and centred the sculptures as rich cultural portraiture.
The exhibition was also showcased at the University of Basel’s Centre for African Studies during the summer.
Senior Lecturer Dr Adeyemi Akande is an architectural historian with interests in the art and material cultures of Africa.
On the exhibition, Adeyemi said: "Nigeria has a history of over 2000 years of artistic excellence. This exhibition is a celebration of some of the finest examples of the country's notable sculptural pieces from different traditional societies."
Adeyemi originally photographed models to recreate the sculptures and used makeup, hairstyling and physical stage props to reimagine the pieces. He then used AI to recreate some of the sculptural images, looking to achieve greater accuracy in representing certain elements of the original sculptures such as facial scarification.
On showcasing the works at London Met, Adeyemi said he wanted to engage students in ongoing discourse from the Global South regarding the reconstruction of identity. He explained that he also wanted to invite the public to the University's Aldgate campus.
"It is important for the public to see that they have access to academic environments like this and that they can be part of the discussions happening within this environment," he added.
Following the exhibition at Aldgate, the body of work will move to Nigeria – showing at the University of Ibadan in March 2027.
Dr Adeyemi Akande holds a doctorate in Cultural Art History. His research is focused on the history, spirituality, materiality and meaning in the art, architecture, and urban settlements of pre-20th century West Africa.