Dreaming New Worlds 2025

DNW 2025 Collectives Announcement © DNW 2025 Collectives Announcement

This year, the contributions and perspectives of women* were at the heart of the open call theme ‘Women Designed Cities’. The theme promoted projects that answer the following question: What would cities look and feel like if they were designed by female artists, matriarchs, scientists, carers, engineers and storytellers?

The selected projects present narratives that go beyond Lagos and utilize new creative materials and technologies. The collectives themselves emphasize beauty not as a luxury, but as resistance and connection. I am proud of their feminist approach, which challenges extractive progress and presents open, pluralistic, planetary and intimate ways of being in the world. This year's edition continues the framework for shaping the future that Dreaming New Worlds already presented in 2023. It shows concrete ways of communicating and negotiating with each other in urban space.

As usual, we will accompany you, our community, with an active program and engagement until the exhibition of the resulting works by the two selected collectives in February 2026.

Obieze Chinyere
Curator

Sarauniya Ènè

Sarauniya Ènè is a women-led collective based in Lagos, Nigeria. Our name, “Sarauniya” meaning “Queen” in Hausa and “Ènè” meaning “person” in Igala, embodies our ethos: a return to power, and care through creative resistance. We are five women creatives that draw our strength from the wisdom of African matriarchies, boldly reshaping our environment into what we yearn for.

Our practice is rooted in inclusivity and intersectionality, and at the heart of our collective is a belief in storytelling as a way to hold the memories of those too often erased. We honor our ancestors.

Stephanie Isah is a Lagos-based olfactory artist and poet who transforms scent into a language of memory, mysticism, and emotional presence.
Drawing from African art, urban life and matriarchal healing traditions, her practice explores scent as both a memory archive and a spiritual tool. She creates immersive interventions that hold space for existence and ancestral resonance through sensory design.
Odum Rita is a Lagos-born Designer whose work lives at the crossroads of architecture, memory(Research), and Art. Trained as an architect, she crafts spaces that hold presence. I.e rooms, furniture, and installations. She has worked as Head of Design and Project Manager, delivering work for clients such as BUA Group, Techon, and Dover Engineering. Similarly, Rita’s private practice spans interior architecture, furniture, and exhibition design. Merging traditional craft with contemporary aesthetics. She has recently contributed to cultural projects at Didi Museum, ArtBridge’s Anyanwu, and also as a member of the collective MAIAF, designing environments that elevate narrative and experience. Known for her leadership, detail-oriented process, and collaborative spirit, she brings clarity, care, and vision to every project.
Vetum Gima Galadima is an Archaeologist, Curator and Artist from Kaduna, Nigeria. Her work explores the conservation and re-interpretation of heritage into contemporary context through various mediums like gaming, visual art, textile, photography, narrative storytelling, A. R technology etc. Vetum is an Arts in Medicine and Africa No Filter/Open Country Curatorial Fellow.

Some of her projects include ; ROOT CODEX - a game exploring learning disabilities and Nsibidi/African writing systems, IJE MMUO - a comic book on Ibo and Ibibio ancestral masks, AMONG US- an Augmented Reality and 3D scape of Nok terracotta and “My Ancestors in My Future” is a museum education initiative dedicated to exploring museum artefacts for public education.

Vetum is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Joy Sunday George, also known as Queen Joy, is an HND student and a passionate 3D artist with one year of hands-on experience in crafting photorealistic 3D models. Over the past year, she has collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver top-performing projects, showcasing strong teamwork and communication skills. A standout moment in her journey was serving as the sole 3D artist on a team that placed among the top three winners at the Echoes Game Jam. She also contributed to her team securing 11th place out of 35 entries in another competitive challenge, demonstrating her ability to consistently deliver under pressure.
Nmesoma Ofortube, also known as Soma Bree, is a multi-hyphenate creative with a background spanning music, fashion, and tech. A graduate of FUTO with a degree in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, she has built a versatile career as an A&R, stylist, model, and executive assistant.
Over the years, Soma has worked with artists, executives, and fashion brands, supporting day-to-day operations and creative development. She currently serves as an A&R at a record label, where she helps artists refine their sound, organize recording camps, and align their music with audience demand. Beyond music, she supports a fashion brand with content creation, scheduling, and brand coordination, blending structure with creativity across industries.

MatriAér Lab

As a forward thinking interdisciplinary collective grounded in the belief that cities become kinder, more livable, and more sustainable when women’s experiences and embodied knowledge shape their design. Our team brings together artists, storytellers, an architect, a sound designer, and a green creative technologist - each committed to exploring how care, intuition, technology, and material experimentation can form new urban futures in Nigeria.

We work collaboratively, beginning from lived experiences: how women move through space, how they rest, how they carry invisible labour, and how they imagine safety and belonging. Our practice is rooted in conversation and observation, listening to women’s stories and translating them into spatial concepts, sculptural forms, textures, and soundscapes. Rather than treating beauty as decoration, we regard it as a tool of resistance and wellbeing. We believe that softness, quietness, greenery, and breathing space are not luxuries; they are design necessities that Nigerian cities urgently need.

Our work merges traditional material culture (wood, carved forms, water elements) with newer technologies XR, ambient sound architecture, light-responsive systems, and digital simulations. Together, we try to build worlds that are dreamlike yet practical, poetic yet grounded in real solutions.
The collective’s shared value is simple: A city designed without women’s voices is an incomplete city.
We will create work that fills in those gaps designing from the inside outward, from emotional intelligence to urban logic, from memory to future.

Fiyin Koko (b. 1994) is a multidisciplinary Nigerian artist whose passion for art was sparked in childhood by watching her mother paint. A self-taught creator, she has cultivated a practice deeply rooted in womanism and storytelling, reimagining narratives that place women at the center, as heroines in their own right. Her work is anchored in six central pillars: womanism, conversation, body positivity, movement, love, and femininity.

Fiyin’s art blends elements of fantasy, a distinctive use of blue, artivism, and storytelling across diverse mediums, including mixed-media paintings, sculptures, installations, photography, and digital illustrations. Through these forms, she creates visual narratives that address both personal and societal issues, often also inviting viewers to engage in a dialogue through an immersive reach.

Committed to shifting perspectives, Fiyin’s practice is not only a reflection of her dreams and lived experiences but also an amplification of the voices of women around her. Her work is an ongoing exploration of what it means to be a woman in today’s world.
XELA is a Nigerian abstract artist working in acrylics, digital media and texture material they work explores fluid shapes, emotion, and the inner workings of the mind of using hollow ink lots like facial features to reflect identity and perception, rooted in intuition rather than the environment, XELA’s practice, lens movement, and psychological depth to grade pieces that feel both personal and abstract.
Sorunke Quadri is a trained architect, interior designer, and industrial product designer with over a decade of experience.
He leads dbq studio, a design consultancy that develops alternative solutions through research, design thinking, and the transmutation of each client’s identity into spatial assets. Since 2022, the studio has delivered industrial product designs, commercial and residential projects, with several proposals currently moving into execution. Their clients include Isivini, Casava microfinance, Dye Lab, and Don jazzy.
Quadri also frequently collaborates with leading design practices, including MOE+ and the JBU team.
Oluferinkunwa ‘Ferin’ Tunde-Onadele is a 24-year-old emerging sound designer whose passion for audio stems from creating music and producing short, engaging entertainment videos for platforms like TikTok. What started as an interest in crafting beats and experimenting with sound has evolved into an interest in audio storytelling.

With a natural ear for rhythm, atmosphere, and emotional tone, Ferin brings creativity and technical curiosity into every project. He enjoys shaping immersive soundscapes, enhancing visuals with thoughtful audio choices, and exploring how sound can elevate experiences. Now developing his craft more intentionally, he continues to refine his skills across music, video, and interactive media.
Monai Nailah McCullough is a New York–based horticulturalist dedicated to reconnecting large urban cities with nature and building the future of sustainable food systems. Growing up in New York City, Monai never felt disconnected from the natural world—whether through memories of upstate New York, foraging leaves and identifying birds in her vibrant Queens neighborhood, or cultivating her ever-growing collection of more than 75 houseplants.
Her work is rooted in a belief in people and community. Monai champions practices that support new food-production systems, urban gardening, and more conscious living. She sees these tools not only as ways to improve how food is consumed, but as pathways to revolutionize gardening itself. Through her initiative, Guerrilla Gardening, she explores how communities can take direct action to shape greener, healthier, and more sustainable futures.
Zida Kalu (b. 1998) is a Nigerian digital artist, curator, and creative project manager whose work blends abstraction and portraiture into a vivid exploration of color, form, and emotion. Entirely self-taught, she began her artistic journey using her mobile devices, gradually developing a distinctive language of expressive lines, layered colors, and unconventional shapes. Her practice centers the beauty, depth, and complexity of women, inviting viewers to find personal meaning within each composition.
Her creative interests extend beyond painting into curation and project leadership. Zida has curated independent art exhibitions, including a full-concept all women exhibition she ideated and directed in 2020, as well as a later all women exhibition developed in partnership with a contemporary art space in celebration of International Women’s Day 2022. She has also curated a major 2026 Nigerian fashion collection and continues to oversee creative and operational projects within the music and cultural space, currently managing the work of a female DJ.
In 2022, Zida became the first artist to collaborate with Vault by CNN to create a unique NFT, marking a significant moment in her engagement with digital innovation.
Across her artistic and curatorial practice, Zida’s work is guided by a commitment to visual storytelling, intentional experimentation, and the belief that art should offer space for both reflection and imagination. Her approach merges creativity with structure, allowing her to bring complex artistic visions to life with clarity and purpose.
Ryan Tenney is an interdisciplinary (agri)cultural worker whose practice spans agriculture, artistic production, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Influenced by the ecological, scientific, and artistic legacy of George Washington Carver, he synthesizes painting, printmaking, creative coding, soil science, and farming into a holistic practice grounded in Black agrarian traditions. His work emphasizes arts-based knowledge translation, collaboration, and experimentation as pathways toward food sovereignty and ecological justice. Alongside his artistic practice, Tenney teaches printmaking, painting, and agri-TEK on his family farm and through workshops across the United States, fostering connections between cultural production, land stewardship, and community-led futures.

2025 Programme

Oct 7, 2025 – 12:00 PM

Modular Ethnography for Artists & Designers

How do we listen to the city and translate lived experience into design?
Join us for our Modular Ethnography Workshop, where artists and researchers will explore new ways of gathering data and stories to inspire projects. Participants will learn how to use ethnographic methods to uncover hidden narratives and create meaningful connections with the communities they work with. This workshop offers a unique opportunity to gain insights and skills that can enhance your creative practice and research projects.
Oct 9, 2025 – 2:00 PM

Alternative Urban Planning: A Crash Course on Urban Design

This crash course introduces new ways of thinking about urban planning with care, access, and imagination for inclusive futures. Participants will learn about innovative approaches to urban design that prioritize community needs and engagement. By exploring alternative perspectives, attendees will be equipped to create more inclusive and sustainable urban spaces in their own work.

RSVP to get updates and reminders

Zoom Link (Join directly)
Oct 16, 2025 – 2:00 PM

Sound as a Contemporary Art Medium

This workshop explores sound as an art form and explores its many possibilities. Join us as we explore the intersection of sound and contemporary art in this interactive workshop led by Peter Okotor. Participants will learn how to use sound as a tool for storytelling and creative expression and gain practical skills in creating their own sound art projects. This workshop aims to inspire attendees to think outside the box and push the boundaries of traditional art forms.

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Join Online
Oct 23, 2025 – 2:00 PM

Smell as a Contemporary Art Medium

How can scent transform our experience of space and be used to communicate ideas?
This workshop dives into olfactory art and design, exploring the role of smell in shaping mental pictures and experience. Join us to explore how scent can transform our experience of space through olfactory art and design. Discover the role of smell in shaping memory, intimacy, and unique experiences.
Stay tuned for Novembers programming

Dreaming New Worlds 2025

Sarauniya Ènè

Stephanie Isah

Odum Rita

Vetum Gima Galadima

Joy Sunday George

Nmesoma Ofortube

MatriAér Lab

KOKO Fiyin

XELA

QVX

FXRHINO

MONAI McCullough

ZIDA KALU

Ryan Tenny

2025 Programme

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