Library
on the Lagoon.

Library on the Lagoon was a public art and engagement project that transformed the Lagos Lagoon into a site for collective reflection, imagination and dialogue. Developed by iranti press and delivered in collaboration with A Whitespace Creative Arts (AWCA) Foundation, the project invited people to reconsider their relationship with one of the city's most significant yet often overlooked public resources.

For one week, a floating library occupied the lagoon, creating an unusual space where people could gather, learn, and contribute their ideas about the future of Lagos' waterways. At the heart of the project was a simple prompt: "In the future, the Lagos Lagoon will…" What followed was a remarkable act of collective storytelling. Participants shared their hopes, concerns, predictions and dreams, creating a living archive of public thought about the lagoon and its future.

The project combined artistic intervention, research and public participation to encourage deeper engagement with questions of environmental responsibility, governance, ownership, access and urban development. Through installations featuring fragments of the lagoon's history, water samples collected from different points across the waterway, and opportunities for visitors to contribute their own perspectives, the lagoon became both the subject and the setting of the conversation.

By combining art, research, design and public engagement, Library on the Lagoon demonstrated how cultural projects can create new ways of thinking about shared environments and empower communities to participate in imagining their futures.

Library on the Lagoon became a collective archive of aspirations for Lagos, capturing the voices of those who live alongside the water and reminding us that the future of the city is shaped not only by policy and infrastructure, but by the people who imagine what it can become.