Play and joy have always been founding principles of artist and designer Yinka Ilori's practice. Today, the British-Nigerian creative announced the launch of the Yinka Ilori Foundation, a not-for-profit initiative to bring play, optimism and empowerment to communities worldwide.
The Yinka Ilori Foundation
'Growing up, play gave me freedom to dream,' says Ilori as he introduces the foundation's mission. 'It allowed me to turn swings into spaceships and everyday places into worlds of possibility. That sense of imagination and joy is something my mother instilled in me, and it's at the heart of why I launched the Yinka Ilori Foundation.
The foundation's mission statement mentions co-creation, inclusivity, and sustainability as its founding principles, with an aim to create permanent community spaces across the globe.
For its inaugural project, Ilori is creating a playscape in Nigeria (his family's ancestral home) co-built by the local community. The space will be based on modular play structures and will be the stage for a series of workshops and community events that will include training in caretaking to make the project sustainable in the long-term and empower its users.
This play structures will be co-built with the community, and the project will be supported by a full year of free cultural and skills-based programming. Workshops in music, craft, storytelling, entrepreneurship, and fabrication will be offered alongside training in maintenance and caretaking, ensuring each site remains sustainable and locally stewarded.
Ilori has always been vocal about the role community spaces play in the development of young people's networks and how imagination can help shape their future; his foundation is going to merge his beliefs with the distinctive sense of optimism and joy that has pervaded his work from the very beginning.
'We often forget about the mundane spaces which play an important role in bringing the community and people from different cultures and backgrounds together, as well as providing an opportunity for kids to meet, play and share ideas,' he told Wallpaper* in 2022, as he debuted a launderette-inspired playspace in collaboration with Lego.
Joining Ilori in his mission is a board of trustees that includes fashion designer Wale Adeyemi, EKP Connections founder Ellen Port, Gagosian associate director, curator Péjú Oshin and sound artist Peter Adjaye. Broadcaster, entrepreneur and author June Sappong will serve as an ambassador.
'I want to create spaces that aren’t just for communities, but with them,' concludes Ilori. 'Spaces that empower, connect, and inspire. We're starting in Nigeria, but this is just the beginning.'
-
Benjamin Moore's 2026 colour of the year is here — and it's a perfect balance of 'comfortable and chic'Silhouette AF-655, a soft mocha-charcoal hue, draws inspiration from classical suiting and timeless interiors
-
Elmgreen & Dragset on creating a surreal cinema for Prada Mode in London: ‘You are never alone’Populated with a series of hyper-realistic figures, ‘The Audience’ is an immersive new work by the Scandinavian duo, providing the centrepiece of Prada Mode, the house’s roving private members’ club
-
In Monaco, the world’s most famous yacht show up closeThe Monaco Yacht Show is one of the most famous annual celebrations of wealth and ostentation. What’s new in the world of floating ultra-luxury?
-
Inside Nahous, Lagos’ new creative hub in a brutalist 1970s buildingRichard Vedelago on Nahous: the gallerist tells Wallpaper* how he hopes this new space will shape Lagos’ bustling creative ecosystem
-
How Lagos’ street markets inspired a new generation of Nigerian creativesNigeria’s creative scene is embracing the informal structures used by Lagos market traders as paragons of adaptability, flexibility and identity
-
Yinka Ilori creates artwork for Wyclef Jean's latest singleOut today, Wyclef Jean's 'Back to Abu Dhabi' features a cover bearing Yinka Ilori's distinctive colourful aesthetic
