ILLUMINATETHEATRe
Productions
WHO WE ARE
Illuminatetheatre is a non-profit, multidisciplinary creative lab focused on experimental artistic projects. Established as a collective of professional theatre practitioners for young people, our mission is to make a significant contribution to the African cultural sector by delivering dynamic, innovative art projects in public spaces. We are committed to crafting a unique style of storytelling that engages, educates, and challenges audiences, while creating a collaborative environment where individuals can share, learn, and implement community development art projects. Our work draws inspiration from African traditional modes of public engagement, which we blend with contemporary artistic approaches to create a new form of performance. Through this fusion, our projects transcend national and global boundaries, bringing the arts into public spaces and fostering conversations around critical social and political issues.
We are dedicated to creating an alternative space for empowerment, education, and dialogue in Lagos, Nigeria, specifically within the Bariga district. Using dance, performances, and curated community practices, we aim to engage the local community and beyond. Our initiatives serve as a platform for social and political discourse, connecting local and global perspectives while offering opportunities for artistic and cultural exchange. As a collective, we are co-managed by young people and employees who represent various areas of the organization. In a time when community spaces in Nigeria are rapidly disappearing, Illuminatetheatre provides a vital platform for critical artistic examination of social issues from the perspective of marginalized groups. Through our cultural practices and activism, we offer opportunities for international networking, fostering connections between diverse communities and empowering young people to engage in meaningful exchange.
Illuminatetheatre operates as an alternative, democratic art collective, built on the needs and aspirations of local people. We view artistic and operational processes as equally important, ensuring that all aspects of our work are rooted in emancipatory art production. A central principle of our collective is equality between staff and young people, with all critical areas of the theatre – artistic, dramaturgical, technical, and operational – represented by working groups of both employees and youth. Most of our in-house productions are developed collaboratively, with young people taking on key roles such as director, playwright, choreographer, dramaturg, producer, and technician. These roles are supported by experienced mentors who guide the artistic process. The content and scripts are co-developed by all project participants, with a strong emphasis on reflecting the perspectives of the youth involved. Projects are initiated through collective brainstorming, with individual members taking on roles in direction, dramaturgy, technology, and production, under the mentorship and guidance of the artistic director. This approach enables young people to develop the skills necessary to work independently as artists, encompassing a range of disciplines, from dance and acting to writing, performing, and curating community events.
Our regional and international artistic exchanges empower young people and young adults, encouraging self-determination, social responsibility, and creative expression. Since 2020, Illuminatetheatre has seen remarkable growth, exemplified by the success of the Art Mobile Lagos Festival, a testament to our commitment to youth empowerment and cultural innovation.
What we do
Through cultural practices and activism, we harness the power of dance, performances, and curated community initiatives to engage and uplift our local community. We provide a unique platform that encourages individuals to converge, connect, and participate in meaningful discussions on social and political issues, both within the local context and on the global stage. Since inception, our collective has continually regrouped young people from the slums of Lagos, reorientated them, monitored, and worked with them to create artistic projects. We invest our time to develop the talents and skills in the field of performance art. This effort promotes them, connects and exposes them to more empowerment opportunities. While they tell their stories, we work with them to create artistic projects. These projects are then shown in public spaces. Showing works in public spaces is important to us because we want dance and cultural events to be accessible to communities who cannot afford gated events.
We aim to keep using artworks as a weapon to reconstruct social values. We appreciate the importance of cultural activities, that is why all through our years of operation, we have funded our collective projects with private money and depended on the financial benevolence of our partners and friends. Honestly, this hasn't been easy. We seek your financial support to be able to keep up with this good work. We have agreed to work together as a team for the purpose of creating a space to share, teach, acquire, implement and create community development art projects. Through exploitation of body memory, daily sound archive, voices, texts and infusion of simple but unusual materials, we create mouth-watering art pieces which convey socio-political messages with a valid sense of sensitivity and aesthetics. As a collective, we are committed to reinventing, recreating, developing and establishing a new form of performance-approach. From our basic knowledge of African traditional ways of engaging the public, we are working towards integrating it in a contemporary artistic approach. Our works in public spaces cut across national and global boundaries
Since inception, our collective has continually regrouped young people from the slums of Lagos reorientate them, monitor, and work with them to create artistic projects. We invest our time to develop the talents and skills in the field of performance art. This effort promotes them, connects and exposes them to more empowerment opportunities. While they tell their stories, we work with them to create artistic projects. These projects are then shown in public spaces. We aim to keep using artworks as a weapon to reconstruct social values. We appreciate the importance of cultural activities, that is why all through our years of operation, we have funded our collective projects with private money and depended on the financial benevolence of our partners and friends. Honestly, this hasn't been easy. We seek your financial support to be able to keep up with this good work. We have agreed to work together as a team for the purpose of creating a space to share, teach, acquire, implement and create community development art projects. Through exploitation of body memory, daily sound archive, voices, texts and infusion of simple but unusual materials, we create mouth-watering art pieces which convey socio-political messages with a valid sense of sensitivity and aesthetics.
As a collective, we are committed to reinventing, recreating, developing and establishing a new form of performance-approach. From our basic knowledge of African traditional ways of engaging the public, we are working towards integrating it in a contemporary artistic approach. Our works in public spaces cut across national and global boundaries.
