Aghogho Otega

Aghogho Otega

Aghogho Otega is a documentary photographer, filmmaker, multidisciplinary artist, and community leader based in Ughelli, Delta, Nigeria. His work explores cultural and traditional practices, contemporary social issues, the environment, and everyday life. Rooted in both the earth and the spiritual realm, his practice engages with environmental conservation, indigenous knowledge systems, and the ancestral traditions he was born into. By weaving Urhobo philosophies with contemporary ideas, Otega investigates identity and being, often using his own body as a vessel for memory, movement, and transformation through performance and ritual. Working across photography, performance, sound, installation, and film, his artistic journey is a pursuit of self realization and a deep inquiry into identity and consciousness shaped by a paternal traditionalist heritage. Through this lens, he reveals the enduring wisdom and forward thinking nature of African traditions. In 2020, he was among a group of artists commissioned by Coca-Cola to create murals using over 40,000 PET bottle caps. In 2021, he was commissioned by Obscura alongside 137 photographers around the world for The World Today project, which aimed to document the 21st century and stands as the largest NFT commission and collection to date. In 2022, Otega took on a public leadership role as Chairman of Ibru Egbaivere, a small community in Ughelli. He oversaw community policing, civil matters, public safety, welfare, and environmental concerns. His involvement in grassroots action reflects his commitment to nation-building, his desire to foster positive change, and his belief in the artist’s role as an active participant in shaping society. His work has been selected for group exhibitions including Young Contemporaries (2021 , Rele Gallery Lagos), 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair New York Edition with Dada Gallery (2021), Remembering Together (2021 , South Los Angeles Contemporary Gallery, Los Angeles), LagosPhoto Festival (2022 , Alliance Française Lagos), Obscura The World Today 10k NFT exhibition (2022 , MAD Arts Space , Miami), +234 Art Fair (2024 , Ecobank Headquarters Lagos), On The Wings of Icarus (2025 , NaHous, Lagos). Otega has also been a featured speaker in conversations with Tate Modern, United Kingdom (2021), Treehouse Lagos (2022), and hFACTOR, Lagos , Nigeria (2022). He is a member of African Photojournalism Database (APJD) and an alumni of the Rele Art foundation.

Residency/Fellowship

Community of Practice: Art in Action 2026

Website

https://sites.google.com/view/aghoghootega/work