Odyssey to the Limcaf Legacy Exhibition: the Life in My City Art Festival - Limcaf Jos Regional Exhibition Paradigm

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution, structure, and cultural significance of the Life in My City Art Festival (LIMCAF) with particular focus on the Jos Regional Exhibition as a curatorial paradigm for contemporary Nigerian visual culture. Founded in 2007, LIMCAF has emerged as Nigeria’s longest-running youth-centred visual arts initiative, fostering artistic development, decentralising exhibition practice, and promoting national cultural dialogue through regional and national platforms. Using historical analysis, curatorial review, participant narratives, and exhibition documentation, the study explores how the Jos regional model contributes to mentorship, artistic visibility, and community engagement within the broader LIMCAF legacy framework. The paper traces the Festival’s thematic evolution, organisational processes, exhibition mounting strategies, jury procedures, catalogue production, and retrospective participant experiences. Particular attention is given to the transformative impact of regional exhibitions in nurturing emerging artists, exemplified by Paul ChibuikeEmenike’s emergence as the 2024 overall winner with The Eighth Wonder. The study further interrogates the educational and socio-cultural dimensions of LIMCAF, situating it within global discourses on exhibition-making, aesthetic education, and decentralised cultural production. While acknowledging operational challenges relating to logistics and participant welfare, the paper argues that LIMCAF remains a vital platform for artistic innovation, social reflection, and youth empowerment in Nigeria. Ultimately, the Jos Regional Exhibition demonstrates how regional art initiatives can generate nationally significant artistic narratives and sustain enduring cultural legacies within contemporary African art practice.