Artpedia Gallery Embarked on an Audacious Journey to Change the Wrong Notion that Poetry is a One-way Street

The event tagged Unfolded, was an intimate evening dedicated to exploring the juxtaposition of music, poetry, visual art, and varied live performance at one of Lagos’ exquisite art galleries, Artpedia, on the 5th of June 2021.

By forging new territory for intimacy where people can escape the speed of everyday life in Lagos for a few hours, popular Nigerian singer- songwriter Dwin The Stoic, Bunmi Africa, Ore Macaulay, Muyiwa Akhigbe, Ifeoluwa Olutimehin, and Chukwudi Ukonne took people on a wild emotional rollercoaster of shared experiences told with poetry, music, and visual arts.

At Unfolded, each segment centered on audience participation. It presented new modes of interaction in a socially-distanced environment.

Comprising various activities, Unfolded aimed at correcting, curating and expanding the notion
of these artistic expressions. Lined up segments included A Poem Mastered, Blindfolded Unfolding, Painted Poetry, Make it Yours, and Read my Poem. Clearly, Artpedia gallery was not looking at merely entertaining people, the goal was to engage the audience and ensure that the experience sparks a new appreciation for poetry and art in general.

Speaking about the event, Oreoluwa Macaulay one of the performing artistes who also compeered the event said “Unfolded brings to mind, an image of something spreading out from a folded position. In this case, the event nudges people to step into the freedom art offers. We hope to create a fully liberating experience!”

As a special highlight, the event featured a Sip and Paint session which allowed the audience to interpret their feelings and reactions into art that they could take home. Unfolded draws on the audience’s ability to evoke their visual senses in expressing themselves, thus creating a multi- sensorial experience.