ArtExpo 2009: Going beyond Nigeria
The outing jointly put together by AGAN and the National Gallery of Arts, Abuja was declared open by the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Princess Adenrele Adeniran Ogunsanya. It brought together 34 galleries including Midy Art Gallery from the Republic of Benin. They displayed 700 art works from 308 artists as against the earlier […]
The outing jointly put together by AGAN and the National Gallery of Arts, Abuja was declared open by the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Princess Adenrele Adeniran Ogunsanya. It brought together 34 galleries including Midy Art Gallery from the Republic of Benin. They displayed 700 art works from 308 artists as against the earlier anticipated 553 artworks of 208 artists. Amongst works on display were 490 paintings in various forms, 86 sculptural pieces, 9 ceramic items, 56 mixed media pieces, six drawings, five installations, 59 print pieces and five photographic displays.
Accordinag to the curator, Mr. Simon Ikpakronyi, who expressed satisfaction at the turn out of participants to the expo, “these numbers have surpassed any single art exhibition that has taken place in Nigeria. This year’s outing was more successful than last year’s. This is far beyond our estimation.”
In attendance were art lovers from all walks of life. Dr. Olabiyi Ogunsanmi from Abuja who participated in said, “I was impressed by the quality of works which were on display and felt that they truly represented a large chunk of Nigeria’s artistic wealth. I managed to acquire one of the pieces.”
Some participants such as Igho Bakpa expressed displeasure over the lack of publicity of the event. “As a resident in Lagos, I hardly saw any publication or notices informing me about the event. One would expect that as 90 per cent of the galleries participating are in Lagos and the AGAN headship is situated here, more publicityshould have been done.”
The event also witnessed a critical analysis of the first and second editions, curatorial works, people’s attitude towards the exposition as well as AGAN and her collaborative efforts. The forum was further enhanced by a paper presentation by Ikpakronyi entitled International Artexpo Nigeria: Issues and Matters Arising.
It discussed the benefits of the expo and ways thjrough which it could be better exploited.