– An exhibition at CCA Lagos
The Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA Lagos) is pleased to collaborate with Goethe-Institut Nigeria on Chord Notes: Body Rhythms in the City, an exhibition presented by Goethe-Institut Nigeria as part of the 2025/2026 edition of Dreaming New Worlds. Curated by Chinyere Obieze in collaboration with Orinayo Odubawo, the exhibition opens on Friday, 13 February 2026 and runs until Thursday, 30 April 2026 at CCA Lagos, Yaba.
Chord Notes: Body Rhythms in the City brings together women-led art collectives to explore new approaches to urban planning and design through embodied, sensory, and socially engaged practices. The exhibition asks: What drives our city? How might we rethink and redesign urban life? In response, participating collectives investigate how cities are experienced through the body—acknowledging that urban systems differently shape and regulate bodies across lines of gender, race, class, and ability.
This immersive exhibition proposes the city as a lived and sensory experience shaped by movement, breath, memory, and care. Moving beyond techno-utopian visions of the future, the project foregrounds embodied knowledge, ecological intelligence, and collective imagination as tools for rethinking urban life and designing more inclusive cities.
Participating Collectives
Sarauniya Ènè
Lagos-based, women-led collective Sarauniya Ènè works across architecture, design, archaeology, and olfactory practice. Drawing from African matriarchal histories and oral traditions, the collective presents an immersive installation inspired by the contested legacy of Queen Amina of Zaria. Through scent-based storytelling, the work imagines Taruwa City—a speculative urban vision shaped by shared memory and community-submitted dreams of an ideal city. Using olfactory art as a living monument, the installation invites visitors to experience space as both personal and collective memory.
Members: Stephanie Isah, Odum Rita, Vetum Gima Galadima, Joy Sunday George.
MatriAér Lab
MatriAér Lab is a multidisciplinary collective exploring women-centered visions of future living through architecture, horticulture, sound, and digital art. Their installation, The Breathing City, reimagines urban systems structured around the rhythm of breath. Integrating sculpture, animation, and sound, the work proposes a city designed around ecological intelligence, emotional well-being, and community interdependence. Referencing Lagos as a coastal environment, the installation highlights the relationship between urban design, plant life, and water systems as essential to sustainable living.
Members: Fiyin Koko, Xela, Quadri Sorunke, Fxrhino, Monai McCullough, Zida Kalu.
Public Programme Highlights
March 2026
Fri 6th, 12pm: Lagos Gallery Weekend Curatorial Walkthrough
Sat 7th, 2pm: Performance Presentation & Generative Letter Writing Workshop
Sat 14th, 2pm: MatriAér Lab Artist Talk
Sat 21st, 2pm: Scent Workshop by Sarauniya Ènè
Fri 27th, 5pm: Film Screening – Sita-Bella, The First (2023)
April 2026
Sat 11th, 2pm: Sarauniya Ènè Artist Talk
Sat 18th 2pm: Workshop by MatriAér Lab
Fri 24th, from 5pm: Closing Programme – Film Re-screening, Women in Architecture, and “Make Your Own Scent” Party
Exhibition Details
Venue: Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA Lagos), 9 McEwen Street, Yaba, Lagos
Dates: 13 February – 30 April 2026
Opening Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Time: 10:00am – 6:00pm
Chord Notes: Body Rhythms in the City is presented by Goethe-Institut Nigeria as part of Dreaming New Worlds, curated by Chinyere Obieze in collaboration with Orinayo Odubawo. The exhibition is realised in collaboration with CCA Lagos, Lagos Urban Development Initiative (LUDI), Abela Olfactory Art Center, and A Whitespace Creative Agency.
