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Michael Akuagwu

@_manlikemike

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Multimedia Artist
SHOWING: Adobe Creative Resident on Display @ V&A (til Nov 26)
1/3 of @ruleofthirdspod
2025 @vamuseum x @adobe Photography Resident

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“If you shoot for the stars, you’ll at least land on the moon”We catch up with V&A Creative Resident for Photography Michael Akuagwu ( @_manlikemike ) ahead of his final display at V&A South Kensington. Throughout his 2025 residency, Michael has pushed beyond his comfort zone, exploring new creative formats and processes as he questions how ‘significance’ in art is defined. ‘Through The Lens’ is an approach to rebalance representation in museums – celebrating overlooked Black British Photographers that came before and highlighting the importance of inter-generational connections.Come and discover Michael’s display alongside works from our other 2025 Adobe Creative Residents, at V&A South Kensington until 1 November 2026.Film by @james__houghAdditional footage @zuketafilmsThe Adobe Creative Residency is supported by The Adobe Foundation. by @_manlikemike

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7 months ago

“I am good enough. I’m here for a reason.”Adobe Creative Resident Michael Akuagwu is diving into one of his biggest projects yet. ‘Through the Lens’ brings together intergenerational conversations between black British photographers - and while interviewing your peers can be exciting, feelings of imposter syndrome can creep in. Michael opens up about how he stays focused and inspired while working on big projects, and reminds us why self-care matters.Sometimes you need to step back, recharge, and reconnect with yourself so you can come back feeling refreshed and ready to create. The Adobe Creative Residency is supported by The Adobe Foundation.Film by @james__houghAdditional footage @zuketafilms by @_manlikemike

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9 months ago

Enter the surreal with 2025 Adobe Creative Resident Michael Akuagwu, whose dreamlike self-portraits and digitally sculpted worlds explore identity, memory, and culture today.Drawing inspiration from iconic works by Vanley Burke such as “Young Men on See-Saw, Handsworth Park, Birmingham” to the quietly powerful “Boy With Flag, Wilfred, in Handsworth Park”, Michael’s combination of surreal self-portraiture and personal narrative invites us to witness a new kind of portrait - one that challenges, remembers, and transforms.Film by @james__hough Supported by The Adobe Foundation. by @_manlikemike

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a year ago

Thirty-one and feeling a bit lost.Runtime: 7 mins 31 secsI’m from the era of YouTube. The waffling was gonna happen. by @_manlikemike

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18 days ago

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED: Our 5 day summer intensive photography course, “A Moment in Time” is back for another year at the @vamuseum. The course is open to young people aged 18-26 who are interested in developing a creative practice in photography. The artwork created during the course will be showcased in a pop up display later this year at the museum. Please if you or anyone you know would be interested please do apply and send around! The link is available as a link in our bios. Applications close 10th July!Photo credits: Slides: 1, 4 & 6 - Jasprit Singh | Slide 5 - Jude Amponsah | Slides 7 & 8 Hydar Dewachi by @_manlikemike

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20 days ago

Introducing the Momentum cohort 2026/27 - Michael Akuagwu - 21/30London born and based multimedia artist Michael Akuagwu invites contemplation on society and our lived experiences through his work. Starting off using surrealist techniques, composite photography and self-portraiture as a way to explore his thoughts on the world around him, his practice has expanded, utilising mixed media, design and film to touch on important themes and gaps within culture today. by @_manlikemike

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a month ago

My film about my time on the Adobe Creative Residency at @vamuseum is out on YouTube 🙌🏾 (had some very wild comments on it some weeks ago, some bigots were angry but WE MOVE. Thanks to the museum for removing those swiftly). It shares a bit about my practice, my research for the year and my process behind the works that I ended up making for our show “Adobe Creative Artists on Display”. It’s quite wild to think that this time last year I was in the initial stages of working on the Through The Lens series and compiling my list of photographers to reach out to. Thank you to all the artists who became a part of Through The Lens, the team that worked on the series with me and organisations like 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning who we collaborated with on workshops. Also thanks to Zuketa for making such a great film of my journey!Funny to see some of my friends and family in here too. Joy-Zahara-Bina you are 1/1. Thank you! 😂❤️Please give it a watch and let me know what you think! Link in my bio. by @_manlikemike

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2 months ago

I’ll be so real, I did not want to do this run but the accountability through the fundraiser kind of forced my hand. It’s kind of funny that we ran for @movember. It was a different time back in October when we initially signed up. Life was pretty great. So much has happened and changed since then and my mental health has been fighting for its life lol (very much in my “I got nuffink left” bag). I’m grateful to all who donated to the fundraiser, we raised a whopping £450 which is crazy! Movember are doing some great work for men’s health so the money is going to a great cause. Thanks to the friends I got to see during the run and for the well wishes in the lead up. I’m hoping that the rest of 2026 is a bit brighter cos it has been a bit 💩. Yesterday did give me hope though that maybe this floating rock ain’t so bad and that maybe there is some hope for humanity - it was mad wholesome. Shout out to @onlychibuike we made it to the end and lived to tell the story 😂🫶🏾 by @_manlikemike

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2 months ago

We’re back at the @vamuseum 🎉Drop in on to see us working live, solving randomly generated briefs inspired by the V&A collection and on Saturday 23rd May you can join us to do the same!Think our 30 day challenges, but IRL. Drop in to see how we get on from Thu 21 – Fri 22 and you can join in on Sat 23 May, free. Secure your spot via the link in bio 🎟️ we can’t wait to see you there! by @_manlikemike

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2 months ago

Under The Bushel (2026)Part of an upcoming body of work ‘Something About The Light’. by @_manlikemike

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3 months ago

Little pleasures, reflections and moments that made an odd time a bit better ❤️😂 by @_manlikemike

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5 months ago

THE 2025 ADOBE CREATIVE RESIDENTS13/01/2025 - 31/12/2025A year today Ciara, Jess and I started the craziest journey at the V&A. A lot of new things we all explored. A bit of a crazy everything, everywhere, all at once. I couldn’t have wished for a better group of artists to explore all of last year with.Here’s a lil carousel of some interesting disposable film pics, other film pics, Mia’s phone pics 😂🫶🏾, other phone pics of some of our year. We came, we saw, we researched, we WORKED, we actually made amazing pieces for our show (we actually did it 😭) and most importantly we conquered!Also shout out to our US cousin @samorapinderhughes and congratulations on an amazing year with the residency programme at MoMA 🥳🥳🥳 Wishing you all the best with your next steps (but first hope you both get a lot of good rest), the work you both make is incredible and you’re all incredible. The sky is truly the limit. Till next time!❤️ by @_manlikemike

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6 months ago