Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation is a Nigerian non-profit founded in 2019 by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA and an esteemed board of Directors. It delivers residency and public programmes across two sites located in Lagos and Ijebu. The multi-use live/work spaces host multidisciplinary artists, researchers and curators from all over the world in awarded residencies for up to three months.

In Lagos, the Foundation is hosted in an award-winning building designed by Elsie Owusu in collaboration with Nihinlola Shonibare. The secondary location designed by Papa Omotayo sits on a 54-acre working farm owned by Shonibare located on the outskirts of Ikise, a village neighbouring Ijebu-Ode. The farm produces crops ranging from yams and cassava to peppers and cashew.

The Foundation’s mission is underpinned by an ethos that strives to create a platform for creative and career development and knowledge exchange. Through the support of international partnerships, G.A.S. hopes to break down traditional barriers of privilege, wealth and lack of infrastructure and provide opportunities for both its residents and the local community.

In 2022, G.A.S. began populating its library archive after receiving a donation from Professor John Picton and Sue Picton of a lifelong personal library collection, consisting of around 1500 volumes. The donated books cover topics including Sub-Saharan African art, history, and archaeology, as well as African American and Black British arts.