Coming in just over a week ‘Ìrìn Àjò’ is an exhibition of the practice of Samuel Ojo which will be running at the Cartoon Museum in London. This looks like a vitally topical collection of work to get into central London and visit. And don’t forget the Cartoon Museum are doing their bit for Small Press Day this weekend too!
Samuel Ojo’s Ìrìn Àjò
From 24 July
The Cartoon Museum is excited to announce Ìrìn Àjò, an exhibition of the work of Samuel Ojo featuring 12 cartoons based on Samuel’s experiences as a migrant in the UK. The works combine personal narratives and policy critique, speaking truth to power while capturing the humour and hope embedded in migrant life. The exhibition seeks to reframe the migrant not as a burden, but as a contributor, cultural bridge, and human being deserving of dignity.
Samuel Ojo moved to the UK in 2022, leaving Nigeria for Birmingham. This exhibition reflects on his journey so far, as well as the contributions that immigrants make to the UK and the ways they are perceived by the people around them, the media, and the government.
Immigration levels have been a fiercely contested topic in British politics in recent years, fuelling the rise of populist parties across the Western world. However, we rarely hear the voices of immigrants themselves. Many of them come to the UK to try to make a better life for them and their families, and are often escaping difficulties back home such as war and repression.
Despite the key role migrants have played in the development of modern Britain they face many challenges and barriers, before and after moving to the UK. Ìrìn Àjò (Yoruba for “Journey”, “Sojourn”) is a deeply personal and politically conscious cartoon exhibition that explores the immigrant experience in the UK from a Black, diasporic perspective. Inspired by Samuel’s lived experience as a Nigerian immigrant in the UK, the works reflect the struggles, resilience, and ironies that define life in transit—between nations, identities, and expectations.
