The Concept
Lateefat Tobun exhibits as part of the Bradford African Festival of Arts 2026, themed "Nkosoo — Advancement and Progress," opening with a day of ceremony, cultural workshops, and art exhibition at the University of Bradford.
Lateefat Tobun exhibits at the Bradford African Festival of Arts 2026, taking place across the University of Bradford from 3rd–8th August. This year's festival is themed Nkosoo — Advancement and Progress, a word rooted in Akan tradition that speaks to growth, forward motion, and the shaping of a better future with a theme that resonate deeply with the festival's mission to celebrate African heritage and creativity within Bradford's communities.
Day 1 opens with a full programme of celebration: an opening ceremony, cultural workshops, and the art exhibition itself, held in the Small Hall at the University of Bradford. Lateefat's work joins a wider showcase of visual artists exploring what advancement and progress mean across the African diaspora through memory, identity, migration, and craft.
The Bradford African Festival of Arts (BAFA) brings together music, dance, food, and visual art in a celebration of African culture within one of the UK's most diverse cities. For Lateefat, whose practice moves fluidly between painting, photography, and textile, the festival offers a chance to present work within a space explicitly built around African artistic traditions and contemporary reinterpretations of them.