Nigeria will participate for the first time in the London Design Biennale in June 2025, marking a significant milestone for the country’s creative industry on the global stage.

The official national pavilion, titled Hopes and Impediments, is supported by the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, according to a statement issued on Tuesday. It represents Nigeria’s first government-backed project at the prestigious international design event.

Curated and designed by Nigerian-American designer and researcher Myles Igwebuike, with programming led by the Founder of Culture Lab Africa, Itohan Barlow Ndukuba, the pavilion explores themes of identity, heritage, and future design possibilities from a uniquely Nigerian perspective.

At the heart of the exhibit is the ancient community of Lejja in Enugu State, renowned for one of the earliest known iron-smelting technologies. The pavilion combines ethnographic research, advanced digital tools, and speculative architecture to reframe Lejja as a conceptual “social capital” of Nigeria, highlighting its contributions to governance, gender relations, and ecological sustainability.

Organisers said the exhibition aims to reposition design as a powerful tool for historical reclamation and cultural expression, while underscoring Nigeria’s growing investment in the creative sector.

Curator and designer of the pavilion, Myles Igwebuike, stated that the pavilion is an intellectual and spatial provocation.

“By dissolving the artificial boundaries between science and the humanities, we articulate a new paradigm, one that reclaims indigenous technologies as legitimate epistemological tools, capable of informing contemporary discourse on design, history, and identity.”

Barlow noted, “The vision for Nigeria’s creative economy is rooted in empowering our West African designers and entrepreneurs to lead not only in innovation but in storytelling that defines our true identity on the global stage.”

The Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, said, “The Nigerian Pavilion serves as a pivotal opportunity to showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage, design innovation, and creative excellence on an international stage, aligning with the Ministry’s Nigeria Destination 2030 vision.”