Celebrate African & African American Art: Nigeria
Explore the culture, traditions, and art of Nigeria. Watch engaging performances and artist demonstrations and take part in art activities including: Paper Beading, Design a Container, and Create a Watercolor Resist. Contribute to our Community Mural collaborative project, participate in dance workshops, and so much more! Play and relax in VMFA’s Sculpture Garden and stop by our Best Café. Explore and learn with VMFA!
Generously sponsored by:
Schedule of Events
11 am–3 pm | Museum-wide:
11 am–3 pm | Studio 1, Art Education Center, Level 1:
11 am–3 pm | Library, Level 1:
11 am–3 pm | Sculpture Garden, Patio:
11–11:30 am | Atrium, Level 1:
11:40–12:10 pm | Atrium, Level 1:
12:30–12:45 pm | Atrium, Level 1:
1–1:30 pm | Atrium, Level 1:
1:45–2 pm | Atrium, Level 1:
2–2:30pm | Atrium, Level 1:
Art Activities
Artist Demonstrations with, Sunday Olaniyi
Reading Corner
DJ Mikemetic
Egungun Masquerade accompanied by Master Percussionist, Ricky K. Micou
Elegba Folklore Society presents, The Talking Drum
I AM…A Dancer, performance by Kevin LaMarr Jones
Dance Workshop with Studio 4 Dance
I AM…A Dancer, performance by Kevin LaMarr Jones
Egungun Masquerade accompanied by Master Percussionist, Ricky K. Micou
DJ Mikemetic
- 11 am–3 pm | Sculpture Garden, Patio
Mikemetic is a cultural curator and educator that blends various styles of the African diaspora into his audio and visual expressions. His work as a musician and DJ flows through Detroit-influenced electronic music blended with the organic polyrhythms of congas, djembes, and warrior drums.
Artist Demonstrations with Sunday Olaniyi
- 11 am–3 pm | Studio 1, Art Education Center, Level 1
Award-winning artist Sunday Olaniyi is a contemporary designer, woodcarver, bead artist, sculptor, and art instructor. Known for his glass bead portraitures and abstract-rendered narratives, he creates unique African narrative pieces that investigate the relationship between space, color, and texture through realistic forms, as well as semi-abstracted human and animal forms.
Egungun Masquerade
- 11–11:30 am | Atrium, Level 1
- 2–2:30 pm | Atrium, Level 1
Egungun masquerade is a form of ancestral reverence among the Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria that often appears in public during important gatherings or festivals. The appearance of Egungun masquerade and the performance that follows is a symbolic and physical manifestation of departed ancestors returning to celebrate with the living. They bring blessings from the realm of the ancestors, representing the link between worlds. It is customary for devotees and audience members to ask the Egungun for intervention of unanswered prayers.
Presentations by Ricky K. Micou, Master Percussionist
- 11–11:30 am | Atrium, Level 1
- 2–2:30 pm | Atrium, Level 1
Ricky K. Micou is a Hampton Roads–based percussionist who has worked as a percussionist in the Navy Band and toured the globe, performing throughout South America, Central America, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, and the United States. He has performed in Times Square, Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Constitution Hall in Washington DC, and with jazz festivals nationwide. Micou was on Fox and Friends National Morning News Show, and performs frequently throughout Virginia as Drummer, Percussionist, Steel Pannist, and Hand Drummer. Micou has a private studio, teaches percussion online, and is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Norfolk State University.
Elegba Folklore Society presents The Talking Drum
- 11:40 am – 12:10 pm | Atrium, Level 1
The drum is a legendary communications tool — a punctuating teller of life as it happens. This lively delivery of African and African American folktales and narratives combine with vocal and instrumental music to engage audiences along a rhythmic journey over continents and through time.
I AM…A Dancer
- 12:30–12:45 pm | Atrium, Level 1
- 1:45–2 pm | Atrium, Level 1
Kevin LaMarr Jones, Artistic Director of CLAVES UNIDOS, will perform a dance solo as a continuation of his Retentions series, delving into his ancestral heritage as an African American Virginian. His work is a testament to the power of ancestral memory in global African-descended communities as they proclaim identity across oceans, centuries, and generations. With a background enriched by diverse dance forms including West African, flamenco, Afro-Cuban, soul, and salsa, Jones seamlessly blends these influences into what he terms African Roots Reunion™ and ‘Menco Reunion™’, embodying a dance aesthetic that is both contemporary and deeply rooted.
Dance Workshops with Studio 4 Dance
- 1 – 1:30 pm | Atrium, Level 1
Afrobeats is a Nigerian music genre that combines West African musical styles and Americanhip-hop influences, featuring chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. Laid-back and relaxing, the music has a smooth, carefree reggaeton feel. Workshop attendees will learn popular Afrobeat moves and classic West African steps.
At-Home Family Day Art Activities:
Try out these two art activities celebrating Nigeria at home! Follow the links below to access the activities.
Want to continue exploring and creating from home?
Check the VMFA Learn Page to find museum resources, at-home activities, artist videos, and more!