Migration of the Unlucky
Mixed media on canvas — circa 2005 — never before exhibited
Migration of the Unlucky
The Route
Most who leave do not complete the crossing. This work is not about the ones who arrive — it is about the able-bodied men, the women, the pregnant women, and the children who do not.
The Work
What the piece holds
Olusegun Adejumo made Migration of the Unlucky roughly twenty years ago and has never shown it publicly, until now. It follows the route so many have taken out of Nigeria — through Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Libya — toward a crossing into Spain that, for most who attempt it, never happens.
The painting does not depict arrival. It depicts what the journey costs: the able-bodied men, the women, the pregnant women, and the children who set out and do not reach the other side. Two decades after it was made, the route it describes is still being taken, and people are still not arriving.
The Artist
Olusegun Adejumo
Adejumo is a Nigerian painter and draughtsman whose figurative work has been exhibited internationally for over three decades, including “When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting,” curated by Koyo Kouoh. His practice is distinguished first by its draughtsmanship — a precision of line that was never a technique he adopted, but the foundation everything else was built on.
- Active since1986
- Exhibitions50+ shows internationally
- CitiesLagos · London · Paris · Basel · Brussels · U.S.
- RecognitionSolo show, Old Brompton Gallery, London
Migration of the Unlucky
Available- Medium
- Mixed media on canvas
- Year
- Circa 2005
- Dimensions
- 4 ft × 4.5 ft
- Provenance
- Held in the artist’s collection since its creation. Never exhibited or offered publicly until now.
- Asking price
- ₦20,000,000 ≈ $14,950 USD at current exchange rates