Beyond the Silence: Fight and Adaption
The fourth exhibition of "Beyond the Silence" opened on October 27, 2025, at the Alliance Française in Lagos, Nigeria, and explores the concepts of fight and adaptation
Beyond the Silence, a collaborative project organized by Magnum Photos in partnership with Odesa Photo Days Festival (Ukraine), with the support of the Open Society Foundations and Ukrainian Institute, seeks to create a dialogue between photographers from different countries to illuminate common experiences and challenges around the concepts of ongoing occupation and annexation, the impact of colonialism and censorship, and individual and collective choices to resist or adapt. Initiated after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the initiative turns to photography as a medium that can convey authentic narratives and illustrate the impact of actions taken by authorities and individuals around the world.
The fourth exhibition opened at the Alliance Française as part of the Lagos Photo Festival in Nigeria, showcasing the work of three photographers as they explored the concept of struggle and adaptation in relation to the festival’s global theme of incarceration. Five years after the EndSARS — a protest movement against police violence in Nigeria that took place in 2020 — the project aimed to encourage Nigerians to consider the current state of the nation. The question “Are you free?” was emblazoned in black capital letters on the bright green festival posters displayed across the city’s highways.
“Every engagement carries with it a certain degree of responsibility, whether it involves taking action or remaining silent,” writes curator Kateryna Radchenko. “In today’s fast-paced environment, characterized by rapid change and socio-political challenges, it seems crucial to reflect on our role in the political life of a country. ”
Beyond the Silence presents three separate projects: one by Magnum photographer Newsha Tavakolian with Lagos residents on the dynamics of modern life in Nigeria, exploring how different communities coexist in the city’s bustling, chaotic atmosphere; another by Nigerian photographer Fawaz Oyedeji with stories of the #EndSARS resistance movement which has emerged in response to years of political corruption, human rights abuses, and police brutality in his country; and finally Ukrainian photographer Iryna Lupu’s series on her research into how young people live through war.
Newsha Tavakolian
Waking up in Lagos, bruised.
Through this series, Tavakolian seeks to understand the making of modern life in Nigeria, exploring how different communities coexist in the vibrant, sometimes chaotic atmosphere of Lagos. Some dream of leaving the country, while others have no choice but to stay— either adapting to the harsh realities or fighting for change.
“I don’t claim to fully understand the lives of the people of Lagos, but I have been touched by the resilience of silent rebellion against circumstances,” the photographer writes, reflecting on her experience.
Through video and still pictures, she creates the portrait of a generation of artists who express their fight through the arts, ranging from song to movement.
Fawaz Oyedeji
Attestation
Nigerian photographer Fawaz Oyedeji’s series Attestation uses digital photography and text to shed light on the #EndSARS resistance movement, which has emerged in response to years of political corruption, human rights abuses, and police brutality in his country.
What began as peaceful protests eventually escalated into violence, repression, and the tragic deaths of young protesters. Oyedeji revisits key protest sites in Lagos, comparing the past and present and demonstrating the various stages between action and passivity that have changed over time.
“In an attempt to symbolize the course of time, I visited public spaces of these pivotal moments of resistance and juxtaposed them with present-day Lagos. This temporal comparison showcases the various stages of struggles and adaptation that have occurred over time,” Oyedeji writes.
In addition to documenting changes in the urban environment, the photographer presents personal accounts of protesters, illustrating how initial waves of resistance often give way to periods of uncertainty and frustration.
“Their accounts of the emotional intensity of the protests and their current perspectives on the movement echo a recurring historical pattern seen in global movements for justice, where initial waves of resistance often give way to periods of uncertainty and disillusionment,” he explains.
Ira Lupu
‘Spovid’ (Confession)
Ukrainian photographer Ira Lupu’s photographs span several Ukrainian cities and frontline areas, trying to find the balance between those fighting and adapting. Her lens captures soldiers, artists, students, and the daily life of the country, where every moment could be the last.
Combined with excerpts from the photographer’s visual diary with her audio narrative, Lupu’s work aims to show that despite the painful adaptation to loss, even in the darkest of times, Ukrainians strive to find a way forward, like her black-and-white photographic canvases, punctuated by flashes of light.
“Amid the painful process of Ukrainians adjusting to the losses and uncertainties of war, they are still capable of self-reflection, emotional insight, and extreme honesty, ” Lupu writes.
The photographer produced this documentation between 2023 and 2024 in cities and natural areas of the Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Cherkasy regions, and on the frontlines of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions.
The exhibition in Nigeria marked the final in a series of four exhibitions around the world: Cambodia, Kazakhstan, and Mexico. A global exhibition bringing together the work of all 12 participating photographers also took place in Lviv, Ukraine in April 2025.
Discover the full Beyond the Silence series here
