Lunchtime Lectures: From Afro-surrealism to Systemic Amnesia - My Residency Journey at the V&A

2025 Photography Resident, Michael Akuagwu, shares his journey over the past year of the Adobe Creative Residency. In this talk he unpacks his research and how it influenced his programming and practice over the year. Focusing on Staying Power, which is a project in the V&A collections that includes photographs of the Black British Experience from the 50s-90s, Michael shares the work inspired him to build on the legacy of photographers before him. 

Michael Akuagwu is a multimedia artist, blending mediums and skills in photography, design and photo-manipulation with a surreal approach to explore themes of self, identity, culture, and society. Often using self-portraiture and absurdism, his work highlights contemporary issues through the creation of scenes set outside of the real world to reflect on our own realities. Michael is this year’s Photography Resident under the V&A Adobe Creative Residency Programme.