Angels and Muse will host the inaugural Black Muse Art Festival from November 8–12, 2025, in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, under the theme “Let the Forest Dance.”

The festival builds on the success of the Black Muse Residence, launched in November 2024, which has already hosted nearly twenty artists, writers, curators, and practitioners from across Africa and the diaspora. Drawing inspiration from Wole Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests, the festival reimagines art as a transformative force for conservation, community, and cultural continuity.

The centerpiece of the festival is the unveiling of the Black Muse Sculpture Park, featuring the Ázágbà Pavilion—a bamboo architectural masterpiece designed by Architect-in-Residence James Inedu George. The pavilion’s stained-glass windows, created by Victor Ehikhamenor, will bathe the space in shifting colors of light. Grammy-nominated singer Somi Kakoma and Prof. Josephine Abbe will activate the pavilion with a collaborative audio installation weaving indigenous sound traditions into an immersive sonic performance.

“For years, I have carried the dream of a sculpture park—an open space where art, community, and environment could exist in dialogue. With the Black Muse Art Festival, that dream comes alive in Benin City, a place steeped in history yet ever ready to welcome new visions,” said Victor Ehikhamenor, founder of Angels and Muse.

The sculpture park will host a major exhibition curated by Kenyan curator Renee Mboya, titled “Today, Tomorrow, the Moon Will Still Be,” featuring works by Olanrewaju Tejuosho, Osaru Obaseki, Ayobami Ogungbe, Uzor Ugoala, Kelly Omodamwen, Seidougha Linus Eyimiegha (Mr. Danfo), and David Alabo.

The festival also marks the inauguration of the Àkòròlé Residency, designed for mid-career and established practitioners across diverse disciplines. Each November, the residency will host four artists in Benin City, fostering engagement with local contexts while connecting them to global conversations in contemporary art.

In partnership with the University of Benin’s Departments of Fine and Applied Art and Theatre Arts, the festival will feature screenings of contemporary African cinema, concerts and performances, food presentations exploring cuisine as memory and archive, workshops, masterclasses, and community dialogues.

“The Black Muse Art Festival is a platform where art practitioners, scholars, and communities converge to address the urgencies of our time. From conservation to cultural preservation, this festival underscores the essential role art plays in bridging the past and the future,” said Roli O’tsemaye, Program Director at Angels and Muse.

Angels and Muse is a non-profit art organization founded by visual artist Victor Ehikhamenor in 2018, dedicated to supporting artists, writers, curators, and interdisciplinary practitioners through residencies, exhibitions, publications, and cultural programming.