Six years since its inception, Homecoming has established itself as a cornerstone celebration of African creativity on the continent and beyond. Initially founded by Grace LaDoja to “ignite a celebration of cultural heritage and creative exchange, through the lens of music, fashion, sport, art and education”, these sentiments still remain central to the movement’s mission. “I think we can all agree that the buzzword in America is Africa,” LaDoja addressed the crowd at the opening dinner for this year’s Easter weekend festival, before continuing: “That’s a great place to be, but I think we all have a vested interest in how do we make that sustainable in Africa?”
Returning with another programme packed with art tours, panels, pop-ups, performances and even friendly celebrity football matches, Homecoming 2023 brought together Lagos locals and the wider diaspora for an extended weekend of activities to inspire and cultivate these powerful creative exchanges. Tiwa Savage, NSG, Cruel Santino and dozens more joined the festival’s legacy of exciting line-ups that have always championed emerging and established talent from its inaugural show headlined by Skepta and Wizkid to early co-signs of Pa Salieu, Rema and Central Cee in previous years. Strapped with a GoPro, artist SOLDIER BOYFRIEND took us along for the ride to show us what went down.
Watch our Dazed POV from Homecoming 2023 above and read more about what went down here.