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'Creativity here is limitless': women in Lagos share their vibrant entrepreneurial journeys in documentary

05 September 2024

“I feel Lagos is the creative hub of Africa. The amount of creativity that exists here is limitless and the world is beginning to see and experience it.” This is how one of the women entrepreneurs in the research documentary ‘Creative Women in Lagos’ introduces her beloved city of Lagos and its brimming potential.

Research on creative economies has largely focused on the Global North, neglecting cultures, innovations and ideas from the Global South. Professor Eka Ikpe, Director of the African Leadership Centre at King’s, and her colleagues Dr Lauren England and Professor Roberta Comunian in the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries, have been working to re-balance this perspective.

The documentary ‘Creative women in Lagos’ is an output of their research effort, the Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence (CoRE) on Creative Economies, supported by the African Research Universities Alliance and The Guild of European Research Intensive Universities. The CoRE works to sustainably develop creative economies in Africa and is co-led by King’s, Rhodes University and University of Lagos.

In the documentary, the project’s key creative partners in Lagos, Nigeria, share their journeys of becoming entrepreneurs in the creative field, and the obstacles they faced as women and as creatives. The film showcases the networks of collaboration and support among the entrepreneurs that have helped them overcome these challenges and showcase African creativity to the world.

Textile artist Chief Dr Nike Davies-Okundaye inspects a cloth produced in the traditional Yoruba textile practice known as Adire. — Chief Dr Nike Davies-Okundaye (left) is training a new generation of women to keep alive the traditional Yoruba textile practice known as Adire.

Adebimpe Adebambo, a multidisciplinary artist featured in the documentary, says that in a patriarchal society like in Nigeria, creative women face many barriers. However, she adds, “The thing about being a woman generally, we always find a way to make things work. If this doesn’t work, you try something else. You are always looking out for other people. I think being innovative comes with being a woman.”

One of the things we do at my brand is that we support other brands. It was lonely and difficult to navigate the terrain in the beginning. So, once we found our footing, I decided that we would offer help and resources to any up-and-coming brands and individuals.– Ituen Bassey, fashion designer

Another entrepreneur, Emalohi Iruobe, founded Tribe XX Lab, a co-working and community space exclusively for women. She opened the space in 2018 to provide affordable and accessible office spaces for women entrepreneurs. Tribe XX Lab also offers various trainings to women who want to run their own business.

Similarly, Bolanle Austen-Peters, founder and director of Terra Kulture in Lagos has also played a key role in supporting a network of artists and creative enterprises in Nigeria.

When we built our theatre, it changed the face of musical theatre in Nigeria. We have one of the best venues for sound right now in Lagos. Any music artist out there, every single one has performed in this theatre. Not because it is the biggest but because the quality of sound is the best in Lagos today. So, it has allowed us to create musical theatre at a level of excellence.– Bolanle Austen-Peters, founder and director of Terra Kulture

The full documentary is available to watch on YouTube. Four shorter videos focus on the role of Education, Finance, Business support and Networks in supporting the development of the creative economy. See the playlist.

This film shows the wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge and innovation within creative economies in Lagos and how these are deployed to generate social, cultural and economic value. We also see the complex ways in which the important work of these creative women entrepreneurs interacts with economic and cultural dynamics within the national economy and the global economy.– Professor Eka Ikpe, Director of the African Leadership Centre

The CoRE research builds on a previous project by Professor Roberta Comunian and Dr Lauren England, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The ‘African Hub for Sustainable Creative Economies’ project worked on empowering Higher Education Institutions in Africa to collaborate with local creative entrepreneurs for sustainably developing the creative economy.