Through the Eyes of Gaga

14th - 21st February 2026.

Louise Metzger and the Shaping of Modern Artistic Practice in Sierra Leone

Modernity in Sierra Leone was not merely inherited; it was meticulously built, one classroom and one gallery at a time. Through the Eyes of Gaga invites viewers to consider the legacy of Louise “Gaga” Metzger, a woman who functioned as a structuring force in the nation’s visual history. Rather than a static historical survey, the exhibition approaches her career as a living process of transmission—an educator, space-maker, and civic actor whose influence continues to shape contemporary production today.

At the core of this narrative is Metzger’s transformative role in education. Following formal training in London, she dedicated over two decades to developing the foundations of visual literacy as the Head of the Art and Crafts Department at Milton Margai Teachers’ College. Her work coincided with a critical era of nation-building, a period where the act of teaching art became inseparable from the preservation of cultural continuity and the exercise of civic responsibility. In 1989, she extended this mission by founding Gaga Studio—later Gaga Gallery—establishing one of Sierra Leone’s first permanent, artist-run spaces. It was more than a venue; it served as a vital site of transmission where artists could finally situate their local practices within international conversations.

Metzger’s own artistic practice was defined by a deliberate disruption of traditional techniques. Moving away from academic realism, she introduced drawn lines and color fields into her monoprints, creating a symbolic, dreamlike language reminiscent of the rhythmic density found in West African textiles. Through her eyes, the everyday experiences of Sierra Leonean life were filtered and reimagined into profound material explorations.

This exhibition places Metzger’s archival works in an intergenerational dialogue with the contemporary artists she mentored. These former students engage deeply with the architectural legacy of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) period in Freetown, examining how colonial structures have evolved into repositories of shared memory, civic order, and lived experience. By foregrounding these connections, the exhibition emphasizes continuity over rupture, presenting artistic practice as a baton passed from one generation to the next. 

Through the Eyes of Gaga honors a legacy that did not simply record culture but created the very conditions for it to exist. While the archival works of Louise Metzger are presented as a posthumous tribute and remain part of her enduring history, the works of the participating contemporary artists are available for acquisition, carrying her influence forward into new collections.

 

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