Ahmed Sadangi, Director-General, National Gallery of Arts, has promised to promote young Nigerian art talents and their artworks in order to boost their commercial value.
He made the call during a ‘Special Meet and Greet Session’ of the Open Art Expo 2024 Briefs on Friday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ‘Special Meet and Greet Session’ was held in preparation for the forthcoming 2024 Open Art Expo scheduled to hold from 2nd Oct. to 12th Oct. in Abuja.
Sadangi said that Nigerian artists have values and potential, and NGA was working to harness their talents with a view to turning them into commercial activities.
According to him, one of the milestones they hope to achieve is to see how they can bridge the gap between the artists and the market.
This, he said, was especially where the creative industry would showcase its vibrancy and dominance globally.
“We have the talents and artists, but the ability for the artists to now translate these talents into naira or dollar is where the issue is.
“NGA is working to see how we can bridge the gap by bringing the artists to showcase their work, point them in the direction of the market and have value for their talents.
“We have a lot of artists in Nigeria, who are creative, I know we are now getting to that paradigm shift that we always talked about.
“Where the dependency on a certain economic activity of a country is now shifting to other avenues,” he said.
The NGA boss announced that the building of a big NGA in Abuja was underway, adding that it would support artists by providing an enabling environment.
“We have a specific reach in terms of governments that we are, which a normal artist or any gallery may not be able to have.
“So, we will sit down and see how we can access areas of synergy that can change the whole dynamic.
“Like I always say, the art scene has grown to the point that it really does not have very much interference with government.
“All we can do is to support by providing an enabling environment, give it the right structure, infrastructure, and attract finance into it,” he added.
Also speaking, Mr Muhammad Suleiman, President, Society of Nigerian Artists, said the event was an introduction to the Open Art Expo billed for 2nd Oct. to 12th Oct.
Suleiman said the idea was to bring together artists that would participate in the forthcoming event, to meet with arts enthusiasts, stakeholders, as well as functionaries and dignitaries.
According to him, it is also aimed at providing an insight to what it will look like on that special day.
“It is obvious that Nigerians arts are the ones keeping the economy strong and moving.
“Nigerian arts have made Nigeria to be popular in the globe.
“Nigerians are originally known for their artworks, which serve as employers of labour more than any other sector,” he said.(NAN)
