British-Nigerian artist, Yinka Shonibare, is organising a programme that will bring fellow contemporaries to live and work together in West Africa.
This is a reversal of the trend, which usually sees Nigerians and Africans traveling to live and work in the West.
According to Reuters, Yinka – a Turner Prize nominee – made this known on Saturday at the launch of his foundation named “Guest Artist Space Foundation”, which will be responsible for the project and help fund African participants.
He said, “The journey has always been Africans going to the West and I think we need to reverse that.
“It’s important that African cultures are properly understood in the context of Africa and that people actually come here to learn.
“Under the scheme, four groups of three artists will spend three months every year based at sites in Lagos and on a 30-acre farm in Ijebu town 100 km (62 miles) away.”