Leonard Iheagwam’s “Nourishment” Opens to Critical Acclaim At Nahous, Exploring Food as Memory and Survival

Nourishment, a multidisciplinary exhibition by Leonard Iheagwam (Soldier), opened this past weekend at Nahous, Lagos’s newest cultural landmark housed within the historic Old Federal Palace Hotel. The exhibition marking the artist’s first solo presentation in Lagos, runs for one month and will be on view until December 7, 2025.

A reflection on how sustenance, survival, and identity intertwine, Nourishment examines how food, packaging, promises, and price have shaped Nigerian memory, class, and resilience from the Civil War era to today. From famine relief flights into Biafra and imported brands like Peak, Milo, and Maggi that redefined aspiration, to Lagos’s traffic snacks, instant noodles, and sachet economy, the exhibition traces how consumption has evolved into a symbol of both ingenuity and endurance.

Through a vivid mix of paintings, installations, sound, and cultural archives, Nourishment reimagines the ordinary tins, cubes, and sachets as artifacts of collective memory and national identity. Soldier’s work invites viewers to consider how everyday objects and consumer rituals reveal deeper stories of adaptation, persistence, and pride in the Nigerian experience. The opening night drew a cross-section of Lagos’s cultural community, artists, curators, collectors, and creatives who gathered to experience an exhibition that blurs the line between art and anthropology. The atmosphere was charged with conversation about class, consumption, and creativity in modern Nigeria, signaling a growing appetite for thought-provoking cultural storytelling in the city.

Nahous was created as a space for layered cultural storytelling. Nourishment captures that vision, turning the everyday into a lens through which we can reflect on how history, creativity, and resilience intersect.

Richard Vedelago, founder of Nahous.

By situating Nourishment within its architecturally rich setting, Nahous reinforces its mission to champion creative expression and dialogue across disciplines. The exhibition not only marks a pivotal moment in Soldier’s evolving artistic journey but also cements Nahous’s place as one of Lagos’s most vital new spaces for contemporary art and ideas.