Samuel Ojo’s Ìrìn Àjò
From 24 July
The Cartoon Museum is excited to announce Ìrìn Àjò, an exhibition of the work of Samuel Ojo featuring 12 cartoons based on Samuel’s experiences as a migrant in the UK. The works combine personal narratives and policy critique, speaking truth to power while capturing the humour and hope embedded in migrant life. The exhibition seeks to reframe the migrant not as a burden, but as a contributor, cultural bridge, and human being deserving of dignity.
Samuel Ojo moved to the UK in 2022, leaving Nigeria for Birmingham. This exhibition reflects on his journey so far, as well as the contributions that immigrants make to the UK and the ways they are perceived by the people around them, the media, and the government.
Immigration levels have been a fiercely contested topic in British politics in recent years, fuelling the rise of populist parties across the Western world. However, we rarely hear the voices of immigrants themselves. Many of them come to the UK to try to make a better life for them and their families, and are often escaping difficulties back home such as war and repression.
Despite the key role migrants have played in the development of modern Britain they face many challenges and barriers, before and after moving to the UK. Ìrìn Àjò (Yoruba for “Journey”, “Sojourn”) is a deeply personal and politically conscious cartoon exhibition that explores the immigrant experience in the UK from a Black, diasporic perspective. Inspired by Samuel’s lived experience as a Nigerian immigrant in the UK, the works reflect the struggles, resilience, and ironies that define life in transit—between nations, identities, and expectations.
About The Cartoon Museum
The Cartoon Museum champions cartoon and comic art, highlighting its importance to culture and society. Since 2006 it has received 420k visitors, and built a nationally important collection of 4,300 cartoons, comics and caricatures, and a library of 18k items. It runs a well-attended school programme and sell-out school holiday workshops, and over 50k children and adults have attended cartooning, comics and animation workshops at the museum. In 2023 the Museum was awarded a Museums & Heritage Award for its community engagement work, and was recognised at the 2024 Best in Heritage awards for its autism provision.
About Samuel Ojo
Samuel Ojo is a cartoonist with a keen eye for satire who comments on social and political events with his art. His professional experience of over a decade is multifaceted, though, as he’s worked in publishing, advertising, PR, and TV broadcasting. Samuel recently completed his Masters in Visual Communication at Birmingham City University and is constantly exploring new ways to spark conversations and inspire change through art. Samuel is currently a contributing cartoonist for the BusinessDay Newspaper.
