Architect & cultural activist, Theo Lawson to speak at monthly colloquium

The monthly Lagos@50 colloquium continues this month with the architect, designer and culture activist, Theophilus Abiodun Lawson delivering a talk on "Development of a city of captives 1850 to 1960".

The lecture will take place on Saturday January 28 at the Freedom Park, Lagos – a former colonial prison, which incidentally was converted into a massive art centre by same Lawson.

Architect, Environment and Culture Activist, Theo Lawson was born in Lagos Nigeria, in 1959. He designed and built the Motherlan’ performance centre for Lagbaja in 1994 and carried out extensive refurbishments and additions to the New Africa Shrine over a period of 7 years. He also designed the event centre, Yard 158 in Ikeja.

ALSO READ: Art Exhibition Lagos to host Rasheed Gbadamosi Eko Art Expo

On the lecture, otherwise named “Planning a city for Colonization 1850-1960”, Lawson, also a history-enthusiast, wrote: “A friend once said, In Lagos, we live in a prisoner of war camp. I took it as another of her 'socialist' arguments and paid little notice".

The lecture will also feature performances by the youth-centric Footprints of David based in Bariga, Lagos, and the Team Nigeria, a group of young performers who are currently engrossed with a project aimed at breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest theatrical performance in one single show.

The Colloquium event is a monthly lecture series of the year-long Lagos@50 May2016-May2017 programme designed as a build-up to the main celebration of the 50 years of creation of Lagos State, which climaxes in a gala event in May 2017. The Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka is the co-Chair of the Celebration planning committee.