In Toronto, Canada, As Loud As Freedom, a group exhibition honouring Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s visual legacy, opened last Thursday, September 17, at 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education.
The exhibition, by the Magenta Foundation’s 2025 TD Emerging Curatorial Fellow Abisola Oni, gave guests an experience of Fela’s iconic visuals, transporting them to the contemporary through artworks by new-generation artists Jibola Fagbamiye, Ehiko Odeh, Soji “Shakes” Oyinsan, and Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, including pieces by Lemi Ghariokwu, the designer of Fela’s most iconic album covers.
The multigenerational exhibition carries Fela’s message of resistance, portrayed through collages, paintings, and illustrations by the five artists, influenced by the Afrobeat innovator and activist.
For Odeh, his collage practice, rooted in material transformation and the bridging of the organic and the archival, showed up in his pieces: Sacred Nourishment and Lightbeaming, drawn from a body of work recently acquired into the Government of Ontario’s Art Collection. Oyinsan’s multidisciplinary practice is shaped by his research into the spiritual and cultural history of twins in Nigeria’s Yoruba culture, showing up in his pieces: Kehinde L’o gba Taiwo (Lijadu) and the paired Old Soldier and Old Teacher. For Fagbamiye, the Toronto-based illustrator and 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award nominee for the graphic novel Fela: Music Is the Weapon, he showed up with The Leap and The Kiss.
Also on view: Ghariokwu’s Zombie and Beasts of No Nation, the original album covers that helped define Fela’s visual resistance and hold a place in MoMA’s permanent collection, and Ukaigwe’s We’ll See.
Ore Sami, Founder of Sample Chief, the show’s producer, says that the exhibition is the route to building on the deep connection between Toronto and Nigeria.
Toronto has such a deep relationship with Africa and Nigeria, and doing something like this lets us bridge that gap, showing that there can be intergenerational dialogue between artists in the diaspora and artists back home. Shoutout to Lemi for his amazing contribution to this project, and to every artist who’s part of it. Seeing the Toronto community show up and show out for this has been such a special moment, and we’re just getting started.
Ore Sami, Founder, Sample Chief
The exhibition is considered Sample Chief’s most ambitious cultural initiative yet, insisting that the freedom Fela fought for remains unfinished business and that art still plays a significant role in that fight.
As Loud As Freedom is available for free viewing till October 4 at 918 Bathurst Street, from 12:00 to 5:00 PM, alongside a full season of public programming, including an Independence Day Bash on October 1, featuring Local Global, Deelo & Ṣewà, marking Nigeria’s Independence Day with a night of music and celebration.
All Images: Anthony Tuccitto
