OPEN CALL 2026
The Art Core Mobile Festival 2026 invites artists, performers, filmmakers, lecturers and cultural workers to become part of a multidisciplinary festival taking place across Lagos and Warri, Nigeria.
This is not only a festival — it is a meeting ground for artistic truth-telling, collective reflection and public transformation.
We are looking for artistic contributions that reveal hidden realities, challenge systems of inequality and strengthen community through creative expression.
Whether through movement, poetry, film, sculpture, graffiti, lectures or installation work — your practice can become part of a living conversation in public space.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: 31st July 2026
Participating in Art Core Mobile Festival means becoming part of an international network of artists, activists, thinkers and communities who believe in the transformative power of art.
As an artist, you can expect:
This festival is for artists who want their work to move beyond presentation — into dialogue, reflection and social impact.
The festival takes place in Lagos and Warri, across both indoor and outdoor cultural spaces.
In Lagos, the festival will activate different cultural and public spaces. We are currently arranging collaborations with:
> Goethe-Institut Lagos
> J. Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History
The neighborhood of Bariga is our main ground.
The festival format ranges from lectures, screenings, and exhibitions to street interventions, performances, and community-based artistic actions.
In Warri, the festival unfolds through a network of local art spaces, community initiatives and educational environments.
Activities in Warri may take place in:
> independent art spaces and exhibition venues
> college and educational environments
> streets and public gathering areas
> community-centered cultural spaces
Warri offers space for direct community engagement and artistic exchange rooted in everyday realities and lived experience.
The Art Core Mobile Festival 2026 explores the question of truth.
What truths remain unseen?
What systems continue to shape inequality, silence and exclusion?
How can art reveal root causes rather than only symptoms?
Across many societies, people continue to face the consequences of colonial structures, economic exploitation, political corruption and systemic inequality. At the same time, communities continue to resist, create, organize and imagine new futures.
This festival seeks artistic works that:
We believe art can become:
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
We will host poetry gatherings and spoken word platforms focused on truth, resistance and collective experience.
Artists are invited to exhibit works across different art spaces in Warri.
Works may be presented, discussed and offered for sale during the festival.
We are seeking artists who want to use public space to raise awareness, challenge inequality and communicate powerful messages through street art.
Artists working with clay, wood, stone or other materials are invited to:
We invite performers interested in street-based interventions and decolonial artistic practices that question present systems and speak to collective realities.
We are looking for lecturers, educators and thinkers addressing:
For performances in Bariga and the J. Randle Centre, we invite:
We will host film screenings featuring works that:
Screenings may take place at Goethe-Institut Lagos, J. Randle Centre or within public/community spaces in Bariga.
We are looking for:
We are currently working with grassroots structures, cultural partnerships and limited resources.
We aim to provide:
We aim to provide:
Please note:
We look forward to building a festival that strengthens artistic communities, creates courageous conversations and keeps truth alive in public space.
Together, we create spaces that resist silence, challenge oppression and imagine new possibilities for collective futures.
