Mr Danfo showcases Lagos’ metaphysical landscape in ‘Invisible Pedestrians’ exhibition

Lagos-based multimedia artist, Seidougha Eyimiegha, popularly known as Mr Danfo, says there are unseen forces, silent presences and hidden pathways that shape Lagos State beyond its physical form.

Mr Danfo said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

NAN reports that the artist is currently hosting a three-day Open Studio exhibition of some of his works.

The exhibition, which was held from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6, had the theme— ‘Mr Danfo Uncurated.’

In his work, Invisible Pedestrians, the artist showcased Lagos not only as a physical metropolis but also as a city animated by ancestral memory and unseen energies.

According to Eyimiegha, the urban environment is more spiritual than is thought to be most times.

He said the work explored the metaphysical forces that guided behaviour, rhythm and movement in Lagos.

The artist recalled once hearing an elderly man say, “we must wait for the spirits to pass.”

He further said modern cities were built on layers of ancestral presence.

“We have ancestors; there’s a deposit of who we are or what we are going to become interacting with the urban space.

“Each city has a different kind of spirit. It’s something that happens across African tribes that we know.

“We wouldn’t know how our own activity would alter its normal order just to allow them to pass,” he said.

His work, done using acrylic on canvas, acrylic on wood and mixed media, reinterprete everyday signs, as conduits for cultural and spiritual memory.

In the Invisible Pedestrians, Eyimiegha merges pedestrian symbols with masquerade iconography, drawing from traditions where masquerades serve as a connection between the living and the dead.

“When you think about the urban spaces, in some countries they do have customised pedestrian signs that reflect them and their reality or their people.

“We are a people of a different kind of culture, including masquerading our signs.

“In a city where occasionally we still find masquerades coming out, it’s not out of place.

“I don’t know how spiritual they are now, but back in the day we always understood that the performance of masquerading was a connection between the living and the dead,” he said.

The artist linked Lagos’ fast-paced living, restless energy and relentless movement to the city’s intangible forces.

“People generally just want to move all the time. It’s something about Lagos,” he said.

NAN reports that the exhibition also explores Lagos’ subcultures, including the psychology of Danfo drivers, street consumerism, and the proliferation of urban aphrodisiac drinks.