By
May, the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art will be ready for operation. It will
expand the learning space at the Pan-Atlantic University, Lekki, Lagos, and
boost the promotion of Nigerian artists and art, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA
UHAKHEME reports.
The
multibillion naira Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art at the Pan Atlantic University,
Lekki, Lagos is fast becoming a tourist attraction. With barely seven months to
its official opening, art buffs and art enthusiasts have been visiting the
complex under construction to have a feel of the shape and facilities it will
offer the art community. In the last two months, no fewer than three sets of
visitors have visited the project site located on the edge of a green lawn
adjacent the main building of the university.
The
conception of the project, which is an extension of the university’s lofty
educational goals, started in July 2015 when Omooba Yemisi Shyllon through his
foundation, Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation (OYASAF) signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pan Atlantic University to build a
museum that will house most of the art collections of Omooba Yemisi Shyllon.
Consequently, the foundation donated N100m as commitment to the project.
Each of the visits was coordinated by
Spanish-born architect, Jess Castellote, who designed the museum structure. In
a chat with The Nation during a recent visit to the museum,
Castellote disclosed the physical structures will be ready for use by May,
while the official opening is October 1. He added that before the formal
opening, the museum’s doors will be opened to not only students from all
disciplines in the university, but also to those from nearby schools,
especially those located in Lagos.
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| The Museum complex under construction |
Omooba Yemisi Shyllon
confirmed that the October 1 formal opening date is realisable as work is
ongoing on other aspects of the museum, which include documentation, design
display of works, photography, design of website for virtual museum and the
setting up of advisory board. “We are working towards October 1 date. And we
hope we will be able to do it. I strongly hope that the fund I am expected to
drop soon will come too,” he assured.
Castellote, who also doubles as Director of the
Museum, said that the museum will open with an exhibition on Materiality and Society featuring works donated
by Omooba Yemisi Shyllon. The show is meant to highlight how artists have
worked with materials and the society over the years in Nigeria. The museum has
among others a gallery for temporary exhibition, lecture room, storage room,
etc.
Beyond
the completion of the project, sourcing of qualified young men to man the
facilities is one big challenge confronting the museum management. This,
according to Castellote, is one task he will spend three months to resolve by
first seeking training partners from within and outside the country. “We hope
to finish construction of the museum by May, but it will not open till October
1. We have three months to train the staff that will work here. There are talks
with institutions and universities outside for training of staff in order to
get the expertise and experience.
“After
designing the museum, the university approached me to be the Director of the
museum. Part of my assignment is to determine the objectives, strategic plans
and put together a team for the running of the museum. So, I am trying to
identify young people within the period of five years that will be trained by
universities and museums outside Nigeria as partners. This is a challenge,” he
said.
On
sustenance of the project, he confirmed that Shyllon has agreed to make money
available for the running of the museum for15 years. With this, there is the
guarantee that the museum will be sustainable.
Speaking on the
objectives of the museum, he said: “It is not a museum based on exhibition, not
a museum as tourist attraction, not a museum as generator of economic
activities. However, it could be a total of all these in the future. But at the
moment, it is an educational museum that serves the university and the larger
society. It is to serve as an educational tool. We will start by bringing
secondary school students as well as design programmes for art teachers in
secondary schools to engage them on arts. The success of the museum will be
measured by how much we are able to engage and the impact we have on the
people. We want people to take something away from their visit to the museum.
For instance, we are going to develop object-based learning process for the
students, how a piece of art work communicates to the viewers. We will also
educate our professors who are not art inclined. The interaction can also
interrogate areas like how the Benin artists got bronze to work in the early
18th century.” He hinted that the museum is independent of the university
and not under any faculty as it is practised in other universities.
According
to him, one of the programmes to kick start the museum operation includes
training of secondary school art teachers in order to make the museum more
beneficial to teachers and students. The exhibitions, he said, would not be
static as they may be considered for tour of other countries.
The
museum has two floors for display of works, each of which revolves around two
major themes. The ground floor will take care of works on Materiality and
Civilisation in Nigerian art, while the upper floor is expected to host works
on Tradition, Modernity and Society. With these, the museum would be filing a
gap, thus making it a place for artistic innovation capable of attracting
tourists. “Art can be a wonderful instrument to foster deeper understanding of
what it means to be human and to promote creativity as a necessary feature in
all disciplines, from economics to information technology, communication, among
others,” he added. He stressed that the primary objective of the museum is
audience engagement. Already, Shyllon, who is one of the most important
collectors of modern African art, has donated 1,000 of the best artworks in his
collection as well as 200 photographs depicting Nigeria’s people and cultures
to the university.The collection includes traditional art, modern paintings and
sculptures and photographs of Nigeria’s fast disappearing cultural festivals
produced by Ariyo Oguntimehin. The modern paintings include works by such
notable artists such as Aina Onabolu, Ben Enwonwu, Yussuf Grillo, El Anatsui,
Simon Okeke, Uche Okeke, Okebulu, Akinola Lasekan and Bruce Onobrakpeya, among
others. The contemporary paintings include works by Diseye Tantua, Segun
Aiyesan, Kelani Abass and sculptural pieces by Adeola Balogun, Ben Enwonwu,
Oladapo Afolayan, Isiaka Osunde, Okpu Eze, among others.
But according to him,
the museum space can only exhibit not more than 300 works at any given time. He
added that most of the works in the museum’s collection will not be displayed.
To
run the museum, there will be a council and a board charged with the
responsibility. “We will have a board and council made of nine members, some
brought by the university and Shyllon. Also, we will have an advisory board on
decisions on curatorial directions etc,” he said.
On
the cost implication of the project, Castellote said he has so far expended
about 500,000 dollars, which many observers consider as economical compared to
what obtains elsewhere.
Omooba
Shyllon explained earlier why he decided to donate such a museum to the
university.
“I don’t want a situation
where I have devoted the greater percentage of my life to collecting artworks
and my efforts go in vain and the only way I can do it is to ensure that I give
my works to an institution that can manage it and use it to propagate our
culture, our creativity and our heritage as a people,” he said.
He noted that the museum
project is his own way of contributing to Nigeria’s positive image in the
world, adding that it is to show that ‘my people from this part of the world
are not all about 419, condemning their environment, kidnapping, but there are
people who have selflessly devoted their lives to making a positive difference
in whatever area they have chosen.’
Continuing he said: “Not only
that, people would not have to go to Tate Gallery in London to see an Aina
Onabolu, Akin Olasekan, Okebulu, Ugoji, Simon Okeke and the rest or to learn
about our artists, our culture, our way of life vis-Ã -vis our creativity.
