Q Gallery Contemporary Art in Apapa is set to redefine the landscape of Nigerian art with its groundbreaking exhibition, 'Voices of Eyà'. This significant show will feature the works of 14 immensely talented all-female artists, spanning painting, sculpture, and mixed media. Opening its doors on Saturday, June 6, the exhibition is slated to run through June 27, 2026, offering two distinct viewing sessions daily at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Curated by Oke Gabriel, 'Voices of Eyà' is a pivotal moment for Q Gallery, marking its first-ever exhibition dedicated exclusively to women artists, bringing together youth and established legacies in a powerful display of artistic expression.

The central theme, 'Eyà', which translates to 'women', extends beyond a mere title; it serves as a profound reflection of identity, resilience, memory, and presence. The exhibition is designed to amplify the multifaceted realities of women across their personal, social, professional, and creative spheres, providing a much-needed platform for stories that are frequently silenced, overlooked, or misunderstood. Curator Oke Gabriel emphasizes that women are often the foundational models from whom children learn essential aspects of life, including bonding, trust, dependence, nurture, and behavioral patterns that significantly influence their adult lives in contemporary society.

Oke Gabriel herself embodies the exhibition's spirit, acting as a triple threat in her roles as Gallery Manager, Curator, and a participating artist. Her own sculptures and canvases are displayed alongside those of the 13 other women she meticulously selected, effectively blurring the lines between organizer and creative. The diverse artworks showcased in 'Voices of Eyà' resonate deeply with Gabriel's curatorial vision, exploring the intricacies of womanhood, the challenges posed by socio-cultural expectations, the inherent conflicts between personal aspirations and societal responsibilities in various settings, social inequality, emotional labor, and gender bias. Many pieces highlight the expectation for women to prove their capabilities within systems that often relegate them to the background, restrict their voices, and censor their visibility.

Gabriel further reveals that the challenges confronting career women and artists extend beyond physical barriers, encompassing emotional, psychological, and cultural obstacles. She observes that these are environments "where ambition is questioned, leadership is resisted, and identity is shaped by cultural expectations." Despite these hurdles, she asserts, "Women continue to nurture, create, lead, innovate, and transform society through courage, resilience, and self-expression." 'Voices of Eyà' is therefore curated to champion women's empowerment and new realities, reflecting the crucial roles and values of solidarity, mentorship, education, creative freedom, and unwavering support as instruments for dismantling barriers, reclaiming vital spaces, and reconstructing identity. The exhibition ultimately advocates for a society where women can exist freely, expressing their individuality and purpose by making indelible marks in their respective careers and creative endeavors.

The essence of the exhibition's thematic choice is eloquently captured by Oke, who states, "'Voices of Eyà' stands as both reflection and resistance, honoring the strength, vulnerability, dreams, and achievements of women while encouraging conversations that inspire equity, healing, visibility, and lasting change." Among the celebrated artists contributing to this vision is Titilayo Abdulrazaq, a painter who delves into the intimate intergenerational bonds that define womanhood. Her two paintings depict a girl-child subtly absorbing wisdom from her mother and grandmother, illustrating how "eavesdropping as inheritance" shapes understanding. Titilayo's work portrays women as silent custodians of culture, role models, and caregivers, emphasizing the transmission of cultural nuances like gestures, rituals, and everyday interactions across generations.

Adedoyin Adelani-Bello, an accomplished painter and embroiderer who is also an art educator, draws inspiration from her childhood experiences to challenge social norms that dictate gender roles and limit women's societal standing, even within family structures. Influenced by the restrictions she faced as the first female child in her family, her artwork fiercely portrays feminism, focusing on figures such as the mother, the girl-child, and the woman, aiming to defy the status quo by engaging in activities traditionally reserved for the other gender.

Mixed media artist and community organizer, Ogoluwa Christiana Obaseemo, shares her artistic journey, rooted in her upbringing in Warri and the subsequent awareness of how identity and tribe define belonging. Her experiences of navigating different cultures without a clear sense of belonging inspire her practice. Utilizing watercolor, acrylic, discarded newspapers, and waste fabric, Ogoluwa creates expressive portraits characterized by distorted forms, bleeding colors, rough lines, and unfinished surfaces. The human mouth frequently appears in her work—bleeding, cracked, enlarged, or silent—symbolizing expression, pain, silence, and resistance. Through intentional imperfection, she aims to reflect vulnerability and emotional truth, challenging notions of identity, beauty, belonging, and social expectation.

While many exhibiting artists focus their gaze on women and girls, Caroline Useh takes a distinctive approach by centering her work on men and the boy-child. The winner of the Chinwe Russel Awards Art Prize (2025), Useh is a multidisciplinary artist whose mixed media and painting explore themes of mental reformation, emotional relearning, identity crisis, restructuring unhealthy memories, and humanity transcending gender differences. Her two pieces, "How They Unfold" (2025) and "Fluid Man" (2025), utilize a unique medium of Cotton Biased Tapes on Canvas. Caroline's art powerfully mirrors the boy-child as a victim of societal "bias," highlighting how men are overburdened with unrealistic societal expectations, leading to emotional neglect and a fast-paced existence without comfort. She laments society's tendency to overlook and misunderstand men's "rubber-band nature," noting that the boy-child is culturally primed to be a burden bearer, navigating life's lessons in silence without positive self-connection.

Faith Michael's artistic practice, born from an "unintended entry into painting" shaped by "failure" and "persistent repetition" rather than formal schooling, employs oil to portray vulnerability as "a site of endurance." Her work deploys muted palettes, with figures intentionally left unresolved, hovering "between definition and erasure." Faith views painting as a form of "reconstruction, holding the broken without forcing resolution," inviting viewers to engage quietly and closely with each piece to gradually uncover its meaning.

The exhibition proudly features a comprehensive lineup of artists, including octogenarian embroiderer Cynthia Dafinone, stone sculptor Falilat Ibrahim, ceramist Idemudia Mercy, painter and mixed media artist Juliet Ezenwa, sculptor Adiza Nzekwe, painter and mixed media artist Klaranze Okhide, painter Korede Aremo, and painter Khadija Adeboye, alongside the aforementioned artists and curator Oke Gabriel herself, who contributes her sculpture and painting.

Guests are invited to an immersive exhibition experience that promises critical dialogue, networking opportunities, and a diverse range of contemporary art. Each afternoon session commences at 1 p.m. with an engaging artist conversation titled "Let's Talk about It All," leading into the main exhibition viewing at 4 p.m. The auspicious event is also expected to be graced by prominent art collector and scholar, Professor Ebun Clark.