LIMCAF Jos region hosts her second annual Art exhibition and competition

By Peace Isama

The Life In My City Arts Festival (LIMCAF), Jos region exhibition marked its second edition with powerful momentum and renewed creative vitality.

Jos region hosted over 53 young artists between the ages of 18-35, who exhibited different kinds of artworks including sculpture, photography, drawing, digital arts, painting, installation arts, textiles ceramics and documentary.

Tagged with the theme ‘Can We Breathe’, the 5-day event took place from June 23- 28, 2025, at Magnet cafe beside emerald plaza, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.

Speaking with the Jos region coordinator, Dr Jacob Onoja, he stated that the theme for this year’s exhibition “Can We Breathe?” is a question that is both literal and metaphorical, charged with historical weight and contemporary significance.

“The exhibition is not merely a display, it is a lived experience. The artworks speak with urgency, shaped by lived realities and rendered through bold expressive nuances and fierce imagination. They stand as visual narratives of protest, lamentation, survival and transformation. This is art in its rawest and most powerful form – catalytic and unflinching,” he said.

The Jos region debut was held at the University of Jos, in July 2024 where several young artists also graced the occasion with breathtaking exhibitions. Nine finalists were produced for the national exhibition in Enugu and this culminated into an enormous victory for a mixed media artist who is currently a student at the University of Jos, Paul Emenike.

LIMCAF was established in 2007 as an annual celebration of creativity, featuring art competition for young talents in the Nigerian art landscape. It seeks to position arts for social development through youth empowerment, and to promote art as a resource for national development.

On his part, Paul Emenike, the finalist of the LIMCAF competition last year, addressed all the exhibiting artists with a deep sense of humility.

“Not all of you may be selected for the nationals but that doesn’t make you any less of a winner – it only means there’s more in you as an artist that needs to be discovered.”

Prof John Oyedemi, a senior artist and the Head of Department(HOD), Fine and Applied Arts, University of Jos also graced the occasion and congratulated the nine selected delegates.

“The winners or all those who will be going to compete with other creatives from different parts of the country, I wish them the best and this is just the beginning for them”, he said.

Nanji Deborah, a student of Mass Communication who was also present at the exhibition, was delighted to share her experience.

“I only visited Magnet cafe to hang out with a friend. I didn’t know an exhibition was going on here. The art works are so beautiful and I wish all the exhibiting artists the very best,” she said.

LIMCAF has provided a platform where the flame of artistic excellence burns brightly and the hope is that young creatives would rise to national and international prominence.

“The Jos region artist reminds us that creativity is not only therapeutic and reflective – it is generative. It builds a pathway towards societal growth, mental healing, and national dialogue,” Dr Jacob Onoja said.