All activities / Museums & Galleries / Lagos
Museums & Galleries in Lagos
Lagos is Nigeria's Atlantic megacity and the commercial and cultural capital of West Africa, spread across islands, bridges and lagoon on the Bight of Benin. It is the engine of Nollywood, the global home of Afrobeats, and a fast-rising centre for contemporary African art and design, restless and loud at every hour.
Why here
The Nike Art Gallery in Lekki is the anchor of Lagos's art scene and one of the largest galleries in West Africa, a five-storey building holding thousands of works by Nigerian artists across painting, sculpture, beadwork and textile. It was founded in 1983 by Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, the country's most celebrated textile artist and a champion of the indigo adire cloth of the Yoruba, and admission is free. Beyond the hung walls, her Nike Centre for Art and Culture runs hands-on training in adire dyeing, weaving and painting, so the gallery works as a place to learn a craft as much as to look. Set against Lagos's contemporary galleries and the annual Art X fair, it gives a first-time visitor the fullest single window into Nigerian art, from village loom traditions to the work of living painters, gathered under one roof by an artist who built it.
Best months
The gallery is open year-round, and the driest, easiest months to move around Lagos run from November to March, outside the heaviest rains. Entry is free and the collection spans five floors, so allow a couple of hours. Works are for sale, and staff can arrange a walkthrough; ask ahead about textile or painting workshops through the Nike Centre for Art and Culture if you want hands-on time rather than a visit alone.
Getting there & around
The gallery sits on Nike Art Gallery Road in Lekki Phase 1, on Lagos Island's eastern side, reached by ride-hailing or a hotel car; Lekki traffic is heavy, so allow time. Lagos State is in the settled southwest of Nigeria, outside the Level 4 state warnings for the north, though the US State Department keeps an overall Level 3 Reconsider Travel advisory on Nigeria (as of 2026-07). Pair the visit with Lagos Island galleries and the December Art X Lagos fair if your dates line up.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Nike Art Gallery
OrganizerThe Nike Art Gallery, part of the Nike Centre for Art and Culture, was founded in 1983 by Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, Nigeria's foremost adire textile artist. Its five-storey Lekki building in Lagos holds thousands of works by Nigerian artists across painting, sculpture, beadwork and cloth, one of the largest such collections in West Africa, and entry is free. The centre also runs hands-on training in indigo adire dyeing, weaving and painting.