Lekan Babalola was born to Yoruba parents and raised in Nigeria. He moved to England
in the late 1980s, studying film at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Northern School of Film and Television. He is a professional musician, filmmaker and curator. Lekan, Olalekan Babalola, moved to Dorset in 2005.Lekan credits his family for grounding him in Yoruba art and tradition, particularly his grandmother, the late Madam Jokotola Akinlaja, who ensured that as a child he interacted with the family Ifa priest on a weekly basis learning about the sacred divination culture. He calls the 16 PIECES project his "sankofa" experience - Olalekans' way of reaching back to recapture and contemporise his past.
16 Pieces is Lekan Babalola's multimedia project.
“Yoruba culture and the Odu Ifa Philosophy is the source of my inspiration. The ancient rituals and rural traditions of the South West are also powerful influences. My interest is in what happens when the two forces marry? - Lekan