Sculpture takes centre stage once again as ORI II, the second edition of the biennial of contemporary Nigerian sculpture, brings together 30 emerging and established Nigerian sculptors to explore identity, memory, consciousness and lived experience through the human head.

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Curated by Ato Arinze and Uche Obasi, ORI II takes its conceptual cue from the Yoruba understanding of Ori,  the “inner head” associated with consciousness, character, selfhood and destiny. But rather than treating the head simply as a physical form, the exhibition considers it as a vessel of memory and meaning: carrying ancestry, cultural history, belief, psychological experience, leadership, aspiration and the complexities of becoming.

In doing so, ORI II places contemporary Nigerian sculpture firmly within the wider conversation about how individuals understand themselves and their place within society.

But the exhibition is also driven by a larger ambition: to make sculpture more visible within Nigeria’s contemporary art ecosystem.

“That’s the reason why we created the exhibition, to make sculpture more visible in the Nigerian art ecosystem,” says curator Ato Arinze in a chat with iBAND Magazine. He points to the distinctive position of ORI as a platform dedicated entirely to sculpture, bringing together artists at different stages of their careers.

“Aside from the Sculpture Association exhibition, ORI exhibition is the only all Sculptors exhibition that features a great number of artists, young, mid-career and established,” he says.

That intergenerational character is one of the defining qualities of ORI II. The exhibition creates a space where emerging practitioners can share the same platform with established sculptors, while different approaches, experiences and histories of Nigerian sculpture meet within one exhibition.

The participation of two veteran sculptors and mentors, Ekpenyong “Koko” Ayi, the Special Guest Artist, and Patrick Agose, the Guest Artist, therefore carries particular significance.

For Arinze, their presence is personal as well as artistic. “Their participation is a great blessing,” he says, recalling his own early experience at Koko Ayi’s studio. Patrick Agose, he notes, at one point freelanced at Koko Ayi’s studio, while Arinze himself had his first freelance job there.

“The advice he gave me then was very valuable,” he recalls.

Many of the participating artists, he adds, have also passed through Agose’s studio, creating a network of mentorship that connects different generations of sculptors.

“Mentorship is the key to greatness for anyone aspiring to succeed in life and the future of sculpture in Nigeria depends on it,” Arinze says.

The idea of continuity extends to the exhibition’s venue. Quintessence Gallery, which has been part of Nigeria’s art landscape since 1975, provides a fitting setting for an exhibition concerned with history, artistic inheritance and the movement of ideas between generations.

For Arinze, Quintessence’s importance lies not only in its long history but also in its openness to different creative practices and artists.

“Quintessence right from inception has always been the only gallery that is open to any exhibition ideas that gives a level playing ground for every class of artists,” he says. “Their space is dedicated to all branches of art, be it, art, craft, music and books.”

That openness mirrors the inclusive character of ORI II, where artists work across wood, metal, ceramics, clay, assemblage and found materials. The human head is fragmented, elongated, masked, distorted and reconstructed, becoming a visual language for experiences that are often intangible.

The exhibition will feature Dr. Adeola Balogun, Professor Lasisi Lamidi, Ato Arinze, Chris Ekuafeh, David Adeogun, Endurance Omoloja, Okezie Okafor and a broad range of established and emerging voices. It also highlights the growing presence of women in Nigerian sculpture, with six female sculptors participating. Djakou Kassi Nathalie brings a ceramicist’s sensitivity to form, while Adebimpe Adebambo transforms recycled plastics, burlap and other found materials into vibrant mixed-media reliefs.

Across the works, the head becomes much more than a portrait or anatomical form. It becomes a site where identity, ancestry, memory, belief, psychological experience and aspiration meet.

At the heart of ORI II is a question about inheritance and transformation: what do we receive from those before us, and what do we choose to become?

It is a question that applies not only to identity but also to artistic practice. The older generation passes down knowledge, discipline and experience; the emerging generation absorbs, questions and transforms it.

In that sense, ORI II becomes both an exhibition and a platform for continuity and  one that makes room for sculpture to be seen, discussed also experienced on its own terms.

Presented in partnership with Quintessence Gallery and ArtO Studio, founded by Ato Arinze in 2022, ORI II builds on the inaugural edition and reinforces the biennial’s commitment to concept-driven exhibitions and the development of Nigerian sculpture.

Ultimately, the exhibition asks audiences to look beyond the physical head and consider what it represents: where memory lives, how identity is formed, what communities pass down and how individuals become themselves within those communities.

For ORI II, making sculpture visible is not simply about filling a gallery with sculptural works. It is about giving the discipline a sustained platform, connecting its generations and ensuring that the conversations surrounding Nigerian sculpture remain visible within the country’s evolving art ecosystem.

Among the works that will be on display are Djakou Kassi Nathalie’s Mr & Mrs Afro, Adebimpe Adebambo’s Brian Fog – The Woman’s Brain Sometimes, Dr. Adeola Balogun’s Myriads of Perspectives, Bieni Isaiah Uche’s Ile Imo (House of Knowledge), Agose Patrick Ighogbedhere’s Admiration, Ayomide Faleye’s The Patient Eyes and Ekpenyong “Koko” Ayi’s Relief Portrait.

ORI II ultimately positions the head as a powerful metaphor for identity and consciousness but also for memory, mentorship and inheritance. It asks us to consider not only who we are, but what we carry, what we pass on and what the next generation will make of it.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. at Quintessence Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos, and runs until September 13, 2026.

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