Samuel Semako Vittu was born in 1991 in Lagos, Nigeria. He studied art education at Adeniran Ogunsanya College and later earned a bachelor's degree in painting from the University of Nigeria in Nsukka.
One of the most distinctive features of Samuel’s work is his anthropomorphic portrait painting, in which human and animal silhouettes merge. This form enables him to address one of today’s most pressing issues—forced migration due to climate change.
Here, anthropomorphism becomes a tool of empathy, linking the fates of both humans and animals who are forced to abandon their native lands due to extreme environmental conditions, food shortages, or flooding. These are stories not only of physical displacement but also of the loss of cultural memory, traditions, and identity—a reflection on the fragility of one's homeland and the idea of a lost paradise.
MUSEUM SHOWS
2023 – Kaleidoscope of Dreams, Institute Museum of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
2013 – Life in My City (Lagos Zone), National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, Nigeria
EXHIBITIONS
2023 – Leonhard’s Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2023 – Contemporary Redefined: Africa Today, Olym Collection / Sotheby’s, Tel Aviv, Israel
2023 – Tight Knit, Harsh Collective Gallery (Virtual), New York, USA
2021 – A Room with All Our Things, Art Pantheon Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
2021 – On Display, Wielding Power, Gallery at The Landmark, Lagos, Nigeria
2021 – Refrigerator Poetry (Online Exhibition), Lagos, Nigeria
2019 – Dreams, Vivid Exclusive Art Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
2013 – Annual Students’ Exhibition, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Lagos, Nigeria
2012 – Annual Students’ Exhibition, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Lagos, Nigeria
RESIDENCIES
2022–2023 – The Noldor Residency, Visiting Fellow, Accra, Ghana
INTERVIEWS AND PUBLICATIONS
2023 – SEMAKO. Creative Factory Blog
2021 – A Room with All Our Things, Vanguard
2021 – A Room Full of Beautiful Art, Tribune Online
2021 – Black to Black, Zine, Issue #2
2018 – The Spark: Paintings by Samuel
2016 – Vittu Samuel Semako, Art635 Virtual Museum
2016 – Recently on A-ARTS, African Arts with Taj
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Institute Museum of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Sir David Adjaye Collection, New York | London | Accra
Olym Collection, Israel
The Travis London Collection, USA
Ibelin Collection, USA
