Nigeria to Debut at London Design Biennale with Inaugural National Pavilion

Sunday Ehigiator

Nigeria is set to debut at the London Design Biennale in June 2025 with ‘Hopes and Impediments’, an official national pavilion supported by the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.

This marks a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s creative industries on the world stage as it is Nigeria’s first government-backed project at the global design event.

Curated and designed by Nigerian-American designer, researcher, and social innovator Myles Igwebuike, with production and programming led by the Founder of Culture Lab Africa, Itohan Barlow Ndukuba, the Nigerian Pavilion explores identity, heritage, and the future of design from a Nigerian perspective.

The project reflects Nigeria’s growing investment in its creative industries and international cultural presence.

At the core of this exploration is Lejja, a historic community in Enugu State, known for its ancient iron-smelting technology, one of the world’s earliest metallurgical innovations.

Through a multi-sensory experience combining ethnographic research, advanced digital tools, and speculative architectural interventions, the Pavilion repositions Lejja as a conceptual “social capital” of Nigeria, highlighting its overlooked contributions to governance, gender relations, and ecological sustainability.

By foregrounding Lejja’s legacy, the Pavilion makes a compelling case for design as an active agent of historical reclamation.

Speaking about the event, the Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, noted: “The Nigerian Pavilion serves as a pivotal opportunity to showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage, design innovation, and creative excellence on an international stage, aligning with the Ministy’s Nigeria Destination 2030 vision.”

Speaking on the Biennale’s overarching theme, the Curator and Designer of the Pavilion, Myles Igwebuike, said: “This Pavilion is an intellectual and spatial provocation. By dissolving the artificial boundaries between science and the humanities, we articulate a new paradigm, one that reclaims indigenous technologies as legitimate epistemological tools, capable of informing contemporary discourse on design, history, and identity.”

Also speaking, the Founder of Design and Creative Consultancy Culture Lab Africa, Itohan Barlow, noted: “The vision for Nigeria’s creative economy is rooted in empowering our West African designers and entrepreneurs to lead not only in innovation, but in storytelling that defines our true identity on the global stage.”

At a point in time when Nigeria’s creative economy is experiencing an unprecedented transformation, this milestone reflects the country’s growing national commitment to design as a force for cultural leadership and international dialogue.