Africa is, in many ways, a spiritual continent: a place where local knowledge and traditions, sacred and profane mysticism, passion and aesthetic sensibility inevitably converge within the ever-present worlds of sport and art. In Victor Edeh’s work, these realms intersect fully, becoming at once painterly narrative and photographic vision: a documentation of reality, or rather, of its spirit, amplified through the language of fashion.

‘In the Spirit’, Edeh’s creative tribute to the most recent AFCON, stands as a manifesto of his approach to the Beautiful Game and to its role within the social fabric of an entire continent. It also acts as an emblem of his broader artistic practice, where brushstrokes and camera frames rhyme with one another, and where sport emerges simultaneously as collective memory, emotional language, and a vessel of history.

Victor Edeh himself unfolds this perspective through his words, accompanied by the photographic gallery of ‘In the Spirit’.

‘In the Spirit’. Your project carries a very lyrical title. What was the thinking behind it? Where did it begin for you?

“For me, every project starts from subjects I genuinely care about. I’ve always loved sports. When I was a child the first thing I fell in love with was music, and then sports entered the picture. My whole life has been somewhere between those two worlds. Over time I’ve found myself drawn more strongly to sport, and to football in particular. I’ve worked on several personal projects around sport and football. But with ‘In the Spirit’, the context of AFCON was very important. When I started preparing the project, the tournament was approaching, and I began thinking about what this edition represented to me. The previous final, which Nigeria lost to Algeria, was painful for me. I really hoped we would win it after so many years. When I began thinking about this new edition, hosted in Morocco, I felt that it had a strong cultural dimension. Fashion, heritage, history, colours: everything seemed to come together around this moment. So I asked myself: what does this AFCON represent for me personally? I wanted people to see something beyond the football field and beyond the fans in the stadium. I wanted the project to feel diverse: to reflect how people dress, how they interpret football culture. Today you see people wearing jerseys even when they don’t know exactly which country they represent. They simply love the design. You see this even with club jerseys. Football becomes part of everyday life. The title came from that feeling. AFCON represents fashion, heritage, history, colour. Above all, it represents unity. Sport, and football especially, brings people together regardless of race or background. For me, AFCON has always been one of the most powerful ways to unite Africans. Since I was a child it has been like that. But this particular edition felt especially curated, almost like a fashion statement. It was about exploring how football and fashion naturally exist side by side.”

At Athleta Mag we believe sport is deeply connected to art and culture. From your perspective, what is the cultural and artistic value of football in Africa?

“Football is by far the most widely known sport across Africa. It’s what almost every child wants to play. There are other sports, of course, but football is the one that truly defines us. What makes it powerful is that it brings people together. Even people who don’t normally follow football become curious about it. They see a player on television and they feel connected to them, maybe because of the way they play or simply because of how they look. AFCON is a huge moment for us. Every edition people ask the same questions: who will win? Who will be the breakout player? Who will score the most goals? It means a lot for Africans because in a world where so many political tensions exist, football creates a pause: a moment of unity and hope. For those weeks, everyone shares the same excitement and the same energy. For me, football represents the hope of tomorrow.”

What role has football played in shaping you: not only as a person, but also as a creative?

“Football taught me the value of collaboration. It’s a team sport, and that idea deeply influenced the way I approach my work. For example, on this project I had to collaborate with many people: models, stylists, makeup artists, studio owners. It reminded me of football: there’s the goalkeeper, the defenders, the attackers. Everyone has a role, and together they create the result. Creativity works the same way. In the art world collaboration is essential. It’s very difficult to build something meaningful completely on your own. I love working with others, especially on personal projects. To bring those ideas to life you need people around you. Football taught me that spirit from a young age: the idea that many individuals can come together around one shared goal.”

How did your relationship with photography begin?

“Interestingly, I actually started as a painter. I’ve been painting for many years and began doing it professionally in 2016. Colour has always been very important to me. Photography came almost by accident. I started taking pictures on my phone: random images of people, objects, everyday moments. Then around 2021 I posted a photo of someone online, and the response was incredible. People started telling me: “Take more pictures.” At first I was surprised, I thought of myself only as a painter. But I kept experimenting. Since then photography and painting have grown together in my life. I paint and photograph side by side. Right now I’m actually speaking to you from my studio, surrounded by my paintings. It’s simply the life I live: painting, photographing, documenting everyday moments.”

Your images seem to carry a strong painterly quality. How do you see the relationship between your painting and your photography?

“That connection is something I’m currently exploring very consciously. I’m working on a project that will combine both mediums in a single body of work. For me it’s natural to move between disciplines. I believe that if you have the ability to work across different forms, you should explore them fully. What I’m trying to build now is a space where painting and photography coexist: where the two languages speak to each other and become part of the same visual narrative.”

In the description of your project you mention two important ideas: ‘collective memory’ and ‘emotional language.’ Could you explain them?

“Collective memory is closely connected to the idea of teamwork in football. If you watch a match, every player experiences it differently. One player might have a great game, another might struggle. Someone scores a goal, someone makes a mistake. But in the end there is one shared outcome: did the team win or lose? That shared result becomes the collective memory. Regardless of individual performances, the team remembers the match together. That idea fascinates me. Emotional language, on the other hand, relates to how we handle moments, especially difficult ones. When I worked on this project I faced many challenges: coordinating people, managing the shoot, solving problems. But what defines you as a creative is how you respond in those difficult moments. Good times are easy to enjoy. The real test comes during the hard moments. The same applies in sport. How athletes react under pressure: that is what defines them.”

Fashion also plays a key role in your project, particularly with references to the aesthetics of the 1960s–80s. Why was that important for you?

“Fashion from the 70s and 80s has always inspired my work. There was something powerful about the way people dressed in those decades. When I was building the moodboard for this project, I spoke with the stylist about creating something that didn’t feel tied to a single moment in time. I wanted it to reference the past but still feel contemporary and even futuristic. Football and fashion naturally intersect. Players care about how they look before a match. Fans also express their identity through clothing. In my previous AFCON project I focused more on documenting fans directly: photographing them at stadiums and in public spaces. This time I wanted to explore something different: the fashion dimension of football culture. How does a Moroccan fan dress for a game? Or a Nigerian fan? Or an Egyptian fan? Each image in the project carries subtle references to the identity of those countries.”

More broadly, what do you hope to communicate through your work as an artist?

“I want people to see sincerity. My work is about everyday people. Someone walking down the street. A market vendor. A football fan. Someone at a party. Someone in a village. I want to document life as it truly happens. Of course posed photography has its place, but the moments I value most are the unplanned ones: when someone is simply being themselves. Those images carry a vulnerability that feels very honest. Fifty years from now people will look back at those photographs and understand something about how life felt at that moment. So, for me photography is about telling those stories. Colour is also very important in my work. Even in black-and-white photographs I want people to feel the emotional weight of colour: to feel the atmosphere of the moment.”

Looking ahead, how do you see the future of football in Africa: both as a sport and as a cultural force?

“I believe the future will be better than what we see today. But there are still challenges. Infrastructure is one of the biggest issues. In Africa there are only a few countries currently capable of hosting a tournament like AFCON. Morocco did an incredible job, and it showed what is possible. Events like that give hope to the rest of the continent. They show what African football could become. At the cultural level, football has always been central to African identity. If you ask people what defines African culture globally, two things immediately come to mind: music and football. Those two forces carry enormous cultural pride. And I believe football’s cultural influence will only continue to grow in the coming years.”

And what about the Nigerian art scene?

“It has already grown tremendously, and it will continue to grow. Ten years ago many of the things that receive attention today — installations, exhibitions, creative collaborations — were much less visible. Today Lagos has become a major hub for creative activity. Artists come here to shoot campaigns, create projects and organise exhibitions. For example, when I saw the recent Nike campaign filmed here, I realised how much the world is starting to pay attention to what is happening in Lagos. If this is where we are today, imagine where we could be in five or ten years. The future of African art is incredibly promising.”