Mara Okonkwo

Set designer and art director, Lagos

I build rooms for stories — stage sets, film interiors and the occasional window that stops traffic on Awolowo Road.

Booking productions from March 2027

Selected work

  1. 2025HarmattanEditorial, Vogue Africa
  2. 2024The Salt RoomFeature film
  3. 2024BightStage, Terra Kulture
  4. 2023Still WaterShort film
  5. 2022Palm Wine HourRetail windows, Alara
Three plaster arches in warm afternoon light

Harmattan

Editorial, Vogue Africa, 2025

A dust-coloured arcade for a sixteen-page fashion story, built in six days and lit entirely by one window.

The brief was the dry season indoors. We built three plaster arches from salvaged doors and let the afternoon light do the rest.

Everything in frame was sourced within two kilometres of the studio.

A bare room with a shaft of light and a dark green drape

The Salt Room

Feature film, 2024

Production design for a chamber drama set in a single rented room over one long night.

Two arches in cold blue light

Bight

Stage, Terra Kulture, 2024

Two arches and a tide line. A set that floods by a centimetre each act.

A red block and drape in a warm room

Still Water

Short film, 2023

A red chair, a green wall and a lot of waiting.

Four arches in pale golden light

Palm Wine Hour

Retail windows, Alara, 2022

Four windows for a Lagos concept store, changed with the light every season.

About

Twelve years designing for theatre, film and editorial. I trained as an architect, which is why my sets tend to be buildable before they are beautiful.

I work from a small studio in Yaba with two carpenters and a scenic painter, and travel for productions across West Africa and Europe.

Experience

  • Founder and designerOkonkwo Studio2018–Present
  • Assistant art directorEbony Life Films2015–2018
  • Architectural assistantStudio Caverne2013–2015

Skills

Set design / Art direction / Scenic construction / Prop sourcing / Lighting studies

Let’s talk

For productions and commissions, write with dates and a rough budget.

studio@example.com