By Prisca Sam-Duru
Curating the ‘Afrobeat Rebellion’, a landmark travelling exhibition celebrating the life, music, and profound political legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is Seun Ali’s latest and most significant project.
Ali operates at the intersection of law, art, and culture. As a Lagos-based lawyer, art broker, curator, and cultural strategist, Ali specializes in developing exhibitions and community projects that amplify African creative expression through her platform, June Creative Art Advisory (JCAA).
Originally conceived by the Philharmonie de Paris and first showcased in France in 2022, Ali was instrumental in bringing the Afrobeat Rebellion exhibition to Lagos. In an exclusive interview held at the Eko bank Lagos, Ali shares the vision behind the show and her deep dive into Fela’s world.
”This is the Afrobeat Rebellion exhibition, happening at Eko bank Lagos. It’s happening in Fela’s turf/base, which is actually where it should have started,” Ali notes, expressing satisfaction that the travelling show has finally arrived home. “We are happy to receive it here, and it also serves to cement the existing cultural relationship between France and Nigeria.”
The exhibition is divided into 10 distinct sections. The introductory space features a striking, celebratory work by Nigerian-Italian illustrator and textile designer Diana Ejaita, based in Berlin. Ali explains the brief given to the artist: to portray something that speaks to Fela’s legacy, blending his serious political activism with an immersive, celebratory spirit they hoped to capture throughout the exhibition.
While this is Ali’s first major project focused on Fela, she emphasizes that she is a long-time fan who used the curatorial process as a personal continuation of her “Fela studies.”
”I’ve been very familiar with his music over the years, but for me to curate an exhibition about him, I had to really do my homework,” she shares. “I needed to know the man, dig deeper into his background, and unearth what made him embark on this journey—not just musically, but politically—and how he changed the landscape of Nigeria, West Africa, and even the world.”
She aimed for visitors to see the “human first” Fela, the musical genius and cultural icon, before any other perception of his personal life.
When asked what Fela would have achieved in modern-day Nigeria, Ali insisted that his activism would have continued unchanged, perhaps with an even greater impact.
”He would have continued, and I think it wouldn’t have been any different from when he lived. Maybe he would have even had more resources to do more,” Ali suggests. She marvelled at his huge impact despite limited resources and the absence of social media. “To even think of what he would have been able to achieve now with his music is unimaginable,” she states.
This creative inspiration is highlighted in the Lagos Baby section of the exhibit, which focuses on the bustling environment that inspired Fela. Capturing the city’s energy, the section showcases market scenes, traffic gridlock (known as “go-slow”), and people entertaining themselves under bridges.
”This captures the essence of what inspired Fela—the sounds, the visuals, the very colourful Lagos that we still know today,” she says, noting the title comes from Fela’s own song, Lagos Baby, Na so so money.
Ali believes that there is a huge distinction between Fela’s genre and the popular sounds of today’s musicians. “Obviously, what the current musicians are playing today is another genre and quite different from Afrobeat,” she explains. She highlights the compositional differences: Fela’s Afrobeat is typically long, unlike today’s Afrobeats, which sometimes run for 20 or 25 minutes, emphasizing various instruments and complex compositions before the lyrics are heard.
On how it all began, Ali stresses that Fela didn’t simply wake up and invent Afrobeat; he was a highly trained musician. He spoke in one interview about studying classical music at Trinity College in the UK and also playing the piano from the age of nine. However, his evolution was driven by his passion for Jazz, which he sought out in clubs where he listened to greats like Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, alongside R&B icons like James Brown.
Speaking further, the curator disclosed that the exhibition uses its early years section to document Fela’s background and highlight prominent members of the Kuti family, including his grandfather. A key revelation that surprises many visitors is the inclusion of Prof. Wole Soyinka on the family tree—Fela’s cousin, whose mother was a Kuti who married into the Soyinka family.
The exhibition also tackles the enduring myth that Fela performed on stage in his underwear. Ali confirms they included samples of his actual pants, in addition to photos, to counter the falsehood. She clarifies: “That was never true. He had very tailored outfits that he wore on stage. If you saw him in his underwear, he was either at home relaxing, during rehearsal, or just entertaining people; he just liked being comfortable.”
The Library section, she stated. “Showcases Fela as an avid reader by displaying books that likely inspired his activism, such as the works of Kwame Nkrumah, Malcolm X’s autobiography, and Thomas Sankara, alongside various books written about the icon.”
Ali believes the exhibition offers something for every visitor. “There are people coming in with a nostalgic mindset; they’ve experienced it before and may be coming to experience Fela again,” she says, adding, “Others come to test if the project truly captures his spirit and legacy, while many are coming for the first time to gain a deeper knowledge about the man. “At any level, we truly believe that there’s something in this exhibition. So, whether you’re coming to learn, to be entertained, or for serious thoughts about the exhibits, it’s worth your time.”
According to Ali, “The Afrobeat Rebellion is a non-selling, free exhibition. After it closes on December 28th, the performance outfits will return to the family, and the other loaned materials will be returned to their owners. As for where the travelling exhibition goes next, Ali declares: “You have to stay tuned and find out where the exhibition is going next.”
