‘Why Nigeria should tap into $65bn global art market’

A director at Patrons, an art advisory and dealership firm, Keturah Ovio, says Nigeria has the capacity to tap into the $65.1 billion global art market. Ovio stated this yesterday in a chat with newsmen ahead of her upcoming miniature art exhibition titled, ‘small is beautiful’, billed to take place between July 30 and 31 […]

A director at Patrons, an art advisory and dealership firm, Keturah Ovio, says Nigeria has the capacity to tap into the $65.1 billion global art market.

Ovio stated this yesterday in a chat with newsmen ahead of her upcoming miniature art exhibition titled, ‘small is beautiful’, billed to take place between July 30 and 31 in Lagos.

According to her “The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2022 puts the size of the global market at $65.1billion. Therefore, the Nigerian art industry has matured so much that works done by artists in the country are exhibited in various parts of the world, including London, Paris, Rome, New York, Valencia and Berlin, which are often regarded as artistic cities in the world.

“Also Nigerians are quite creative and can make something out of nothing. All we need is to ensure we are able to participate in global exhibitions with our works,” she said.

On the benefits of tapping into the market to augment the government’s dwindling revenues.

“It is important for Nigeria to tap into the sector because it is a big industry that can help to shore up our revenue. When Nigerians travel out of the country, they visit art galleries, attend exhibitions and conduct museum visits. They spend the foreign exchange in order to see and watch what we already have locally,” she added.