Artists seek gallery for indigenous works
NAN-ELS-3
Arts
By Collins Yakubu-hammer
Abuja, Jan.27, 2017 (NAN) A renowned artist, Chief Muraina Oyalami has appealed to the National Gallery of Arts (NGA) to establish a National Gallery that would accommodate indigenous works of arts for exhibition and posterity.
Oyalami in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja said such would encourage and boost the morale of Nigerian artistes.
Oyalami, a member of Board of Trustee of Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) in Oshogbo, said the National Gallery of Arts currently does not have collection of Oshogbo arts.
“NGA should have a gallery for permanent exhibition of works by Nigerian artists so that when they are gone, their works would remain.
“It may not be Oshogbo arts alone, it could include other works by indigenous artists; this will be like NGA’s treasures.
“An archival materials for the future; something for posterity,’’ Oyalami said.
He said that the CBCIU recently celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Oshogbo arts in Abuja.
Similarly, Chief Jimoh Buraimoh, one of the most influential in the country, told NAN that artists expressed their minds through art works and that they do not only do it for commercial purposes.
Buraimoh, a board member, however advised younger artists to have an alternate job aside the art and guard against the urge to sell most of their works.
“If people come to us to buy our works, we sell and if not, we don’t because we have something to fall back on.
“That is why we are asking artists to have a second job; apart from art I still have something to do.
“All artists in the world usually sell their works but not everything; you can sell one or two of your works, but not everything, Buraimoh said.
He called on Nigerians to patronise indigenous work of arts and decorate their homes.
Buraimoh explained further that work of arts such as paintings are very important as some banks now accept them as collateral.
“Some commercial banks in Nigeria today take work of arts as collateral.
“If you buy a painting at five hundred thousand naira this year, leave it for another ten years, you can sell it for N10 million; it’s happening in Lagos and Abuja.
NAN reports that the CBCIU is a UNESCO affiliated institution, set up in 2009 and formally commissioned by the then Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichuro Matsuura.
The governing Board of the Center, is Chaired by former Governor of Osun, Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
The aim of the centre includes to retrieve, curate and sustain historic cultural assets, foster cross-cultural and inter-generational engagement for global harmony. (NAN)
CMY/COO/EAL
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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Ekemini Ladejobi
