RESILIENCE I Drawing

DR. FOLADAVID BIOGRAPHY Dr Foladavid is a medical doctor and visual artist. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Lagos in 2018 and has been in active medical practice since then. A master charcoal pencil user, He creates his art with a focus on socioeconomic issues and on skin conditions especially those that affect the black skin and has done several exhibitions of his artworks across the globe. He has worked with several organisations globally to help propagate the use of art in raising awareness on skin diseases. He typically merges his work as a doctor with his artworks by telling the true stories from real people living with skin conditions like vitiligo, acne, icthyosis, albinism and many more. He also offers support to people living with skin conditions through his clinic in Nigeria. He is Nigeria’s Foremost Speedpainter having the ability to create colourful portraits upside down in less than 5 minutes. A form of performance art called Speedpainting for which he received nationwide recognition from the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and was also featured on all of the President’s official social media pages. He has been popularly tagged the “doctor by day, artist by night” in an exclusive BBC World News feature that puts the spotlight on his skin projects aimed at skin positivity and building self-esteem of people living with certain skin conditions. He started the Foladavid Care Foundation in 2020 to give free medical care to underserved groups and facilitate creative projects for children in rural communities. His work in the community earned him a nomination as the Young Physician of the Year Award by the Nigerian Medical Association in 2020 and the Forty under 40 Africa Award for Charity and Philanthropy in 2023. His foundation also carried out free creative projects in various communities. He has established visual art centres in Lagos and Northern Cape, South Africa’s largest province to foster creativity and encourage children and the youths of these communities in art. He has given several TEDx talks and has spoken in several universities and conferences including the Oxford Africa Conference, UK and the Estoril Conferences, Portugal. He was awarded with a honorary doctorate from the Myles Leadership University as a ‘Doctor of Art’ in 2023 for his work as an artist and for sharing his gifts through his free classes to the vulnerable in the community.