Chikamnenye Onubogu’s “Histories en Motion” Inspires Young Explorers on Children’s Day

On Children’s Day, May 27th, 2025, the renowned explorer and compelling travel storyteller Chikamnenye Onubogu vividly brought the continen...

On Children’s Day, May 27th, 2025, the renowned explorer and compelling travel storyteller Chikamnenye Onubogu vividly brought the continent of Africa alive for attending students through an immersive travel storytelling exhibition and an engaging workshop. This enriching event was collaboratively hosted at the Jelosimi Art Center, in partnership with JuCE Africa.

The children had the opportunity to view captivating photo and audio-visual installations, which showcased Chikamnenye’s extensive journeys across Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. These explorations formed part of the broader Move Africa campaign, a significant project supported by a generous grant from Africa No Filter, working in collaboration with the African Union and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).

Students gathered to explore the continent through Chikamnenye’s lens, from the beautiful Blue Lake of Nimba, born of abandoned mining pits, to the architectural symbolism of St. Paul’s Cathedral Abidjan and the towering grandeur of the Basilica of Yamoussoukro, they were taken on a journey across the West African region.

“We didn’t just talk about travel storytelling. We talked about why it matters.”— Chikamnenye Onubogu

In a travel storytelling workshop, Chikamnenye introduced the students to careers in content creation, emphasising its power to educate and shape perceptions beyond entertainment. Explaining how travel, photography, research, and advocacy can shape powerful African narratives, a student asked where the stories begin, and she responded:

“Start with your environment, even the road to your school every morning has something. Find an interesting fact or story about the world around you on this continent, and start there.” — Chikamnenye Onubogu

When asked about the collaboration with JuCE Africa and Jelosimi Art Centre, Chikamnenye Onubogu shared that the partnership was grounded in their commitment to education, creativity, and African storytelling.

JuCE Africa partnered with the event by inviting some of their partner schools; Dansol Secondary School, Isolo Comprehensive Junior High School, Osbot Royal College, and the Children of Light Fellowship community to experience the exhibition as part of their mission to expose secondary children to all careers paths and this includes exploration and travel storytelling.

Jelosimi Art Centre hosted the exhibition in their welcoming space, continuing their tradition of using art to engage both in-school and out-of-school children. Their dedication to creative expression and community learning made them the ideal home for this installation. Together, this collaboration provided a meaningful learning experience for the students, who not only had fun but left feeling inspired to explore the world around them and tell their own stories.

The children at the exhibition not only saw Africa in a new light, but also began reimagining their environments, and Chikamnenye challenged them to see themselves as storytellers. Many students shared where they’d love to visit next and reflected on how they could document and share their own experiences meaningfully.

See the Exhibition

The series opens for public viewing on Thursday at the Jelosimi Art Center, between 1pm to 5pm, providing visitors a chance to explore the storytelling journey first-hand.

Join Chikamnenye Onubogu, an Africa No Filter Narrative Champion, as she shares powerful stories from across the continent.