The Convener of the African Maritime Art Exhibition, Ezinne Azunna, addressing some of the participants during the event.
The African Maritime Art Exhibition, in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art, has deepened its coastal creativity and ocean literacy campaign with an outreach in Makoko, Lagos, where artists led children and youths in painting and drawing the waterfront community’s seascape directly on water while engaging in live mentorship sessions.
In a statement on Tuesday, the organisers explained that the Makoko engagement formed the second phase of the “Paint Your Coast” initiative, which was flagged off earlier in Akodo-Ise, also in Lagos State, where coastal children were introduced to marine-themed art, environmental awareness, and blue economy opportunities.
“Unlike conventional classroom-based art training, the Makoko edition unfolded in an immersive waterfront setting. Professional artists from the National Gallery of Art worked alongside trainees on floating platforms and canoes, sketching and painting the dense stilt settlement and its surrounding lagoon environment in real time. The result was a living canvas of Makoko’s seascape captured on water as much as on paper,” the statement read in part.
