At the heart of Lagos’s elite Ikoyi district, the Falomo under-bridge area was a vagrant hangout, considered dangerous. When 276 girls were kidnapped from their school in Chibok in April 2014, it became the focal point for the Bring Back Our Girls movement. Local artist Polly Alakija saw its potential to both express the girls’ narrative and offer the district’s only unenclosed public recreational facility. Each pillar was painted with a portrait of a different girl – the project’s title means “May God remember me”. Raised seating was constructed in “waves” of gabions. Night-time lighting was installed. Bollards, shaped like cowrie shells and talking drums, moderate access without fencing the space. Other campaigns have since converged here: for girls’ education and women’s protection; against domestic abuse. Concerts, sports, and exhibitions unfold, watched over by the girls’ portraits - many of whom are still missing. The still-resident vagrants are now viewed more positively.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
