·
How
six-year-old art galleries association AGAN is ‘moribund’ and new one ALONG is
underway.
·
Why
government should regulate art galleries
By Tajudeen Sowole
In becoming artist
and art gallery owner, Biodun Omolayo has passed through diverse phases of art,
in training and practice, which makes his input into the fledging Nigerian visual
art scene cuts across the board.
Few days
after he celebrated his 50th birthday in Lagos, recently, Omolayo shared his
experience and thoughts on several aspects of art, including the challenges
of being an artist who is also in the business of art gallery.
His outlet,
Biodunomolayo Gallery, which promotes works of established and new artists,
also organises workshops for children and informal art training classes
for adults. The gallery has been engaging participants in mentorship for nearly
a decade and is regarded as a bridge between formal art school’s end
points and professional practice.
The artist
and founder is also a pioneer member of Art Galleries Association of Nigeria
(AGAN), a group of professionals whose activities and policy direction may make
or break the prospects of Nigerian art market.
"Clocking 50 is a wonderful experience," he declared, shortly after
taking a break from the supervision of one of the activities lined up to mark
his golden year. And there is a poetic narrative to being 50. "It
means that, like a refined gold, one must have also gone through some moment
of purification to attain the age of wisdom." Being 50, he
noted, "tempers you as well."
At a middle
age, people tend to take a retrospective view of life. For Omolayo, being alive
is an unquantifiable achievement. "So much still need to be done though,
but I thank God for the little I have achieved. I have realised that being
alive is a great achievement too; many have died in their primes. Also at 50,
it is like a first half of a football game. The next 50 means so much."
At a point
in life, one crucial decision could make a lot of difference, either a regret
or joy. Reviewing the "first half" what crucial decision has he
taken in the past that would have been done differently if he were 50 and
wiser? “If I were 50 in 1992 when I took the decision to resign from a bank job
and become a fulltime artist, I would not have thought differently.” He boasted
that as a banker, “I never lost touch with art: during weekends, I either
visited art exhibitions or stay at home, sketching and painting.”
And when he
finally chose art, being self-taught was not enough. Already bagged a degree in
Theatre from University of Ilorin, Kwara State, in 1986, becoming artist
without formal certification, he thought, was an incomplete mission.
“After I left the bank job, I went back to school in 1993 to acquire formal
education in art at Yaba College of Technology,” Lagos.
Basically,
his sojourn at Yabatech, he disclosed, was to afford him the opportunity of
understanding “the challenges that art students go through.” Indeed, the formal
art training prepared him for his current business that include regular
interaction with young graduates of art schools and interns. “For example I now
receive students from different schools who come here on industrial attachment
as well as fresh school leavers looking for jobs. My knowledge of the art
academic environment comes into play.”
Personally,
acquiring formal education, he argued “has boosted my confidence, and I don't
have to feel that something is missing, even though nothing is actually
missing.”
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Biodun Omolayo |
Nigerian art is expanding beyond the
scope of the home market, and artists are seeking promotion abroad. While it
sounds great that Nigerian art is making gradual steps into the international
market in Europe, it does appear that local galleries are not active in this
new trend of promoting Nigerian art beyond the borders. So far, Omenka Gallery
and new entrant, The Space, are the two galleries, which recently took some
artists to Europe.
What exactly are
the challenges of galleries in Nigeria?
"As a gallery
owner, I can tell you that those of us in the business are in it for the
passion we have for art and not about making money. There is no way you talk
about business without money, but the passion for art comes first."
However, there are other important people in the business of managing a gallery
who shares no passion, yet have to get paid. "The workers that a gallery
owner employs don't share your passion, they have to be paid. The landlord of
the building you rent for the gallery is not interested in your art passion."
And when he argued that government
needs to support the art galleries, one wondered why public funds should be
expended in private business. He explained: for the art galleries to meet
up with the responsibility of promoting Nigerian art, government’s support is
needed to face the challenges. We can't be talking of the international art
market when we have not developed the home market fully. For example, I was at
the Art Dubai Fair last year where I interacted with local galleries. I wanted
a partnership with some galleries on how to take Nigerian artists to UAE. I was
told that in UAE, the government's policy, which focuses on promoting the local
artists to international level, would not allow my proposal."
Specifically,
he cited the concentration of art galleries at a spot as an example of
government's input. " I am sure you know that in Dubai, there is a place
where the art galleries are located, maybe as part of government policy. And it
works well with the economic of scale."
Perhaps Nigerian
art galleries’ non-representation of artists is widening the gap of confidence
between the two. "Yes, there is a mutual suspicion; lack of trust between
artist and gallery. Most of the artists, particularly the young ones are
impatient; not ready to wait for galleries to sell as the pace demands. During
the moribund AGAN era we came together and tried to work out how to represent
artists. But it did not work as the galleries were not ready to invest in young
artists"
As crucial as the art galleries are to
the development of art, home and abroad, there seems to be unresolved internal
crisis in the professional body, AGAN. "There was no transparency in
AGAN. Few members benefit from resources coming from National Gallery of Art
(NGA). For example, there is a budget, only a few people know the budget and
execute it. I think government should midwife the professional body of art
galleries."
NGA nurturing of a professional body is
even the problem of AGAN, so observers noted. Omolayo disagreed. "I am
talking of regulation by government. Some of the galleries don't have
functional space and only exist on papers. We can't run a true professional
body that way, there should be a standard."
Currently, what looks like a parallel body,
to be known as Alliance of Nigerian Art Galleries (ALONG), is being formed, and
Omolayo is a member. The formation of ALONG started over a year ago, but the
official announcement appears to be taking longer than expected. "We are
working, but taking our time. We don't want to make the mistakes of AGAN.
During the AGAN era, we were using secretariat given to us by an individual. We
did not have say. But an office given by government brings neutrality of
control.”
It has been observed that between
art school and practice, there seems to be a disconnect, which leads to an
exodus of young artists taking up non-art related jobs to survive economic
challenges. Having seen both sides and interacted with young artists, Omolayo
appears like a perfect resource person to shed light on the subject.
He noted that most of the
students got admission into art school on a platter of gold, hence the less
value placed in applying what they studied. “If you get anything easily, you
may not attach value to it.”