The 11th International Arts and Craft Expo took place between 19 and 24 November 2018 in Abuja. The largest exhibitors were China, India and Bangladesh, who also had a special country show during the program. The Embassy of Hungary participated in this program for the first time, and as the only member of the European Union. According to the estimation of the organizers, nearly half a million visitors attended the event.
The exhibition of the Embassy of Hungary consisted of four Hungarian artists’ works, who also live in Nigeria: the special textile pictures of Kate Aigbe (Lagos), the abstract paintings of Ágota Horváth (Lagos), the textile works of Alíz Thomas-Takács (Abuja) and the artistic photography about Nigeria of Irén Becker. The artworks of all four artists were received with great interest and recognition by the audience of the exhibition. The Joint Art Project was launched at the initiative of our delegation. 265 visitors helped to create the abstract tapestry (21509 knots) with textile recycling (from Nigerian Ankara), which was offered to the delegation of the INAC Expo organizers. Apart from teaching the participants to use a new technique, it is meant to represent Nigeria's diversity and the power of cooperation. Ágota Horváth's unique initiative was celebrated at the closing ceremony, with special prizes. H.E. Alia Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture. Mr. Mohammed presented the portraits of the heads of state as a tile portrait to the representatives of the countries participating in the event, including a portrait of President János Áder, for the Hungarian delegation.
Both the local media, several TV channels, and web sites have reported about the event several times, and many interviews have been made with the Hungarian artists. The country's leading TV channel broadcasted live the closing ceremony.
