Bandele Iyapo
The True Story of Carnival

National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina
March 9 – 21,  2026

Exhibition opening: March 9 at 8 pm

The National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina announces the exhibition of photographs The True Story of Carnival by Trinidadian multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and activist Bandele Iyapo, who has over fifty years of professional practice and is currently based in Bristol.

Iyapo’s work spans textiles, photography, sculpture, film, and installation, and is marked by long-standing community engagement as well as themes of migration, travel, diversity, and historical narratives. His artistic practice connects visual language with social activism — from projects addressing South African apartheid to participation in significant international exhibitions and the realization of original theatre and film works.

The exhibition in Sarajevo focuses on the photographic segment of his oeuvre, tracing the genesis and transformations of Carnival as a space of resistance, identity, and collective memory. An integral part of the exhibition is a written narrative that addresses the experiences of enslaved Africans on plantations following emancipation in Trinidad and Tobago. The celebration of freedom known as Kamboule (Cannes Brûlées) — a ritual of symbolic cane burning — became the starting point for the development of Kaiso and Calypso, musical forms carrying strong social and political commentary, as well as for the creation of the steelpan.

Carnival later crossed the Atlantic and evolved in London into the Notting Hill Carnival, today the largest street festival in Europe and a symbol of cultural exchange and communal affirmation. Iyapo’s exhibition follows this historical and cultural trajectory, pointing to the complex connections between colonial history, migration, and contemporary urban identities.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an educational programme including workshops, talks, and guided tours, conceived as a space for reflecting on the relationship between culture, history, and contemporary society.

The project “Celebrating Diversity” is funded under the British Council’s Culture Connects Grants scheme, designed to support artists and arts institutions based in Bosnia and Herzegovina in establishing and developing creative and artistic partnerships with their UK counterparts, and to encourage new projects and innovation.