About LIPFest 2024
LIPFest 2024: The Science of Things
As we travel deeper into uncertain territory, with advances in Artificial Intelligence coinciding with fierce debates on economic mobility, social identity, and climate change, we must rely more dispassionately on the confluent forces of inquiry and imagination, language and experiment, poetry and science, to guide us into more sustainable ways of living, resisting along the way the forces that seek to co-opt them into instruments for advancing political agendas and narrow economic interests.
LIPFest 2024 is a tribute to curiosity and discovery, a preoccupation with what the poet Derek Walcott calls “the astonishment of the soul.”
It is a reassertion of our individual and collective freedom to pursue knowledge without the corrupting influence of politics, religion, or capital. It is a reaffirmation of our commitment to a world where poetry and science are reinvigorated to point us toward a future defined by our courage to explore, question, and understand.
This implies a vociferous defence of plurality – of voices and opportunities – and a thoughtful consideration of the impact a sustained underinvestment in education and knowledge production has had on of millions of people across the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where about 60% of young people are out of school.
Over four days of carefully curated panels, readings, performances, workshops, and exhibitions, our lineup of poets, scientists, writers, thinkers, and artists, will embody our commitment to breaking down barriers — not just between fields of study, but between cultures and people.
We invite you to join us for this special 10th anniversary edition.
LIPFest was conceived in 2015, dreamed up over drinks and arguments on a forlorn park bench in Lagos, as a vehicle to enable artists on the fringes create their own centers of gravity with cultural force, vision, and daring.
We have powered through funding droughts, a global pandemic, and the beautiful calamities of our personal lives, to bring the world to Lagos every year, because we insist on poetry and the life of the mind.
We are excited to welcome you, from October 24th – October 27th, at the Alliance Française Lagos | Mike Adenuga Centre in Lagos, to LIPFest 2024. Doors open at 10 am each day.
We have an open call for participation here. Join us as a guest poet, writer, artist, thinker, activist, or raconteur, or sign up to host an event or volunteer. Deadline is 9th September.
Won’t you celebrate with us…🚀
