Nigerian visual artist Tega Gbenedio takes on nostalgia and memory in “A familiar somewhere”

Tega Gbenedio discussing the photographs with one of the attendees

In her work A Familiar Somewhere, Tega Gbenedio invites audience members to think about nostalgia, memories and the strange feeling of recognising places you have never visited.

What makes a place familiar? That old shopfront might be red, that car might be yellow, and that old-timey sound may be what you remember.

This sense of recognition was at the heart of A Familiar Somewhere, a community arts exhibition held on 25 and 26 April 2026 in Plumstead, South East London, in partnership with the African Arts Society.

A familiar somewhere sparking conversations

With around 70 visitors, the exhibition explored how familiar sights and sounds can evoke memories of childhood, former homes and places that now exist mainly in our memories.

Gbenedio is a Nigerian-born, UK-based contemporary visual artist whose practice spans photography, sound and installation. Drawing on her experiences of migration and different cultures, she explores the way in which people carry memories into new surroundings and how everyday things and spaces become intimately attached to the concept of home.

For this exhibition, Gbenedio took her camera to Blackpool with its colourful buildings, weathered shopfronts, hotels, signs and day-to-day life. Instead of the city’s most famous attractions, she found herself in its quieter corners, where everyday features seemed reminiscent of places from another era.

The images, photographed using a film lens, have a gentle softness reminiscent of another decade. Blackpool’s colour and architecture appeared to be from the 1990s and early 2000s, bringing back thoughts of childhood memories.

James said, “The photographs made me think about how much colour has disappeared from our everyday life, especially the modern buildings and public spaces. They reminded me of a time when the streets, shops and homes looked a little more colourful in the world as we know it, a time when we were more colourful. It made me wonder whether the world was ever really that bright, or whether nostalgia simply makes the past more beautiful.”

Sound added another dimension to the experience. Music, television broadcasts, conversations, traffic, footsteps and children’s laughter accompanied the photographs and helped people to connect what they saw, what they heard and what they remembered.

The project with the African Arts Society also provided a space for reflection, as people of all ages and backgrounds could see the work in terms of their own experience, rather than just the artist’s.

Gbenedio’s photographs explored the way in which time and distance shape our memories through colour, architecture and familiar surroundings. Rather than presenting the past as a happier time, the exhibition explored how ordinary places and objects acquire new meaning over the years.

A Familiar Somewhere transcended Gbenedio’s own experiences; it invited audience members to think about the places, sounds and small details that linger in memory long after moments have passed.

Sometimes, familiarity is not about where you are; it is about remembering somewhere else.