By Henry Akubuiro
Book Buzz Foundation, organisers of the Ake Arts and Book Festival, scored another milestone in its flourishing literary enterprise recently when it organised its first ever Lagos International Festival of Illustrators (LIFI), in collaboration with Bookstorming, which brought together expert illustrators from around the world and Nigerian participants.
The opening ceremony of the three-day festival took place on Thursday, 18 September, 2025, at Ouida House, 34, Ajanaku Street, Awuse Estate, Opebi, Lagos. It featured exhibitions, conversations and workshops celebrating the art of illustration and visual storytelling, which ended on Saturday, September 20.
Conceived as a groundbreaking platform, LIFI is dedicated to nurturing and celebrating the art of children’s book illustration. For this maiden edition, 45 emerging Nigerian artists engaged in intensive workshops, panel discussions, and live art sessions with nine internationally acclaimed illustrators from Spain, Slovenia and Latin America. They included Emma Casadevall Sayeras, Miriam Persand, Marta Cartu, Maša P. Žmitek, Eva Mlinar, Matej de Cecco, Geraldine de León, Caio César Coutinho Gonçalves da Silva, and Gina Rosas Moncada.
Welcoming the guests, artists and participants at the event, Lola Shoneyin, the founder of Book Buzz Foundation and festival director of LIFI, said: “We welcome you to Lagos, our vibrant, restless and endlessly inventive city where ideas meet and dreams take shape and colour. We are especially proud to welcome our extraordinary lineup of facilitators from across the globe.
“They will be sharing their invaluable expertise and creative experiences with us. In turn, we will show them the best of our Nigerianess. We are extremely proud that Nigerian illustrators will finally be part of the global conversations around creativity, representation and innovation in Illustration.”
For Shoneyin, illustrations in children’s books are more than just images on a page: “They are powerful windows into identity, belonging and possibility.” Hence, “We believe in every shade, every line, and in every stroke lies the power to transform children into worlds where they can see themselves, their realities and imagine brighter fantastical pictures.” Shoneyin stated the obvious, for children, at their formative years, need those images to relate with words.
She was full of praise for partners and the international collaborators of LIFI who made the festival possible and for believing in the transformative power of storytelling and investing your time, your trust and your knowledge in us.”
The Consul General of Spain in Lagos, José María Ferré Savall, in his goodwill message, expressed delight to be at the festival. Also, the partnership between the Spanish Embassy and the Book Buzz Foundation, he said, had been rewarding. He admitted participating in the annual Ake Art and Book Festival also organised by Shoneyin. The Consul-General was glad to be collaborating with the Lagos International Festival of illustrations.
In her remarks, Ms Eva Barta Martin, the Cultural Adviser of the Embassy of Spain in Nigeria, said she welcomed the idea of LIFI when it was first mooted, and “today, we are proud to contribute to this space by offering the links to the vibrant world of illustration in Spain.”
An excited Kayode Onimole, a Nigerian illustrator and one of the participants at the Bookstorm Illustrators and Writers Programme, who has participated at the Bologna Children’s Book Festival, thanks to the Book Buzz Foundation, said returned with many takeaways, including the need for a literary agent at Bologna. He was optimistic that LIFI would improve his portfolio.
Participants were subsequently divided into three sections, representing Spain, Slovenia and Latin America, where they were taught by the expert facilitators, ranging from trends, culture, techniques, and portfolio clinics. Moving from one class to another was seen as a journey across continents. “What is interesting about the way we are doing it is that Group A will spend the day in Spain, tomorrow in Slovenia and the day after in Latin America,” Shoneyin told Daily Sun.
The festival also served as an avenue for networking for future purposes. But the greatest lessons for the participants were the corrections on their works and ideas for improvements that came at the end of their exercises.
The festival was a product of her writings and travels, said Shoneyin, which she wanted to replicate in Nigeria: “My books, my writing and my festival were taking me to different countries around the world. I was seeing these amazing book festivals and all these illustrations. When I see things like that, the first thing I am thinking about is how my people can benefit from this. How can I make sure that Nigerian illustrators are equipped so that they are competing globally? So I wanted to create that opportunity for Nigerians. The best way to do it was to bring a few countries at a time to Nigeria. And that’s what we have done.”
What’s more, her foundation has an ambitious goal to publish 100 children books by the end of 2027. To achieve this goal, “we need illustrators who can dazzle and inspire children and also compete with the digital distractions of our time. “We want to make picture books that remind children that there is plenty of magic to be found in the printed page,” she told Daily Sun.
The festival was made possible by the European Union, IBBY Africa, Lagos State Government, Sterling Bank, Center Ilustracije, Ouida, Embajada de España en Nigeria, AECID and Espara Cooperación.
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