Thursday 2 May 2019


The Pictures below were taken on Monday the 22nd of  April 2019  of the visit/ tour  of the post graduate students of the Ecole Nationale Superieure D'Arts de Paris Cergy of France to OYASAF, as  led by Prof. Senam Okudzeto

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 
Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 


Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Tuesday 16 April 2019

VISIT OF SOME MEMBERS OF THE NIGERIAN FIELD SOCIETY (NFS) TO OYASAF (13-04-2019)

In selflessly promoting Nigerian art and culture to the world, OYASAF hosted the esteemed members of the Nigerian Field Society (NFS) on Saturday the 13th April 2019. The visit included a guided tour of the foundation's art collection covering the history of Nigerian traditional, modern and contemporary art in painting and sculptures, inclusive of video and photography coverage of Nigeria's cultural festivals. Below are some photographic shots highlighting the event.

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot  
Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 



Thursday 4 April 2019


The pictures below, were taken on Wednesday, 3rd April, 2019, of visitors and some members of the Museum Supervisory Council (MSC), to the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art@PAU.  These MSC members and visitors, toured the museum and observed the high tempo of ongoing finishing works towards completing the project, slated for opening to the world on, 19/10/2019.


Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 
Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot


Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot 
Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot


Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot

Thursday 14 March 2019

Visit of Professor Elon Cook Lee of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), USA


Below are some pictures taken of the visit of  Professor Elon Cook Lee of the   Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), USA and her artist husband  with the team led by the  Director of the Lagos state Council for Arts and Culture, Mrs Saidat  Olaitan Otulana,  on a meeting and tour of  OYASAF collection, on  the 27th of February 2018. Prof Lee is arranging a partnership assistance of her University with OYASAF and the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art (YSMA@PAU).  OYASAF is expected to  benefit from an annual artists  residency program, while YSMA@PAU would get assistance of scholars with experience in  museum management to help build the museum into a global educational museum player.
Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot


Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot


Photo by Mfon Ralph Obot


Tuesday 26 February 2019

SUMMARIZED BIO-DATA OF PRINCE YEMISI ADEDOYIN SHYLLON



Prince Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon, hails from Abeokuta, in Ogun State of Nigeria, of the Sogbulu and Ogunfayo lineage of the Laarun royal ruling house of Ake in Egbaland.
He graduated in Engineering from the University of Ibadan (1977), in Law from the University of Lagos (1990) and in the Nigerian law school (1991) with a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University 1980). He is also a Chartered Stockbroker (FCS) and Fellow of some other  Professional bodies within and outside Nigeria.


In 1981, immediately after obtaining his MBA degree, Prince Shyllon served as the Marketing Research and Market Development Manager and rose in 1983, to become the Marketing Manager of the then exclusive dealer in Caterpillar Machines and equipment in Nigeria, Tractor and Equipment (a division of UACN PLC, Nigerian conglomerate). That same year in 1983, at 31years of age, he was appointed Executive Director (marketing) of Nigerite Ltd (the largest Nigerian building and construction materials manufacturing subsidiary of ETEX global Group of Belgium) and for some years in between, was also the legal adviser of that company.


 During his years at Nigerite Ltd as Executive Director, he served at various times, as Chairman and Member of many Corporate and Statutory Boards, starting with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of OGBC and OGTV in 1989 at 37 years of age. Thereafter, he was chairman of Raigate Investment Company of Ogun State Government (1994-1996), Chairman of Gateway Tourism Corporation of Ogun State (2003 -2009). He served as member of the Lagos and Ogun states governors transition committees and some other federal and state Governments Statutory Councils. He was also at some time, a Member of the National Think Tank and was the vice chairman of the Ogun State Economic Summit (2004-2010).

Prince Shyllon established the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation (OYASAF) in 2007, which as at 2016, was widely acknowledged and ranked globally, to hold Africa’s largest and most balanced private art collection and one of the one hundred (100) largest private art collectors in the world.
OYASAF holds well over 7,000 artworks of all genres of Nigeria art, including those from many other parts of the world, as well as over 55,000 photographic shots of Nigeria’s fast disappearing cultural festivals. The photographic shots of Nigeria’s festivals have already been uploaded into video formats on YouTube streaming, towards achieving global exposure for Nigerian culture.

OYASAF selflessly organizes art residency programs for artists, sponsors scholars, curators, artists and art historians from within and outside Nigeria to visit and study his collection, interact with Nigerian art stakeholders and promote research into Nigerian art and culture.
Prince Shyllon, has solely financed the establishment of the First Privately Funded Public Museum of Art in Nigeria, with a grant of one thousand (1000) of his artworks to the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art at the Pan Atlantic University (YSMA@PAU), in Lagos. His donated artworks has been agreed to form the main exhibit of that museum.

In 2012, a Professorial chair in visual art was endowed by Prince Shyllon, at the University of Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, with OYASAF as the sole sponsor of the on-line journal of African art, titled, “The OYASAF Journal of Art (TOJA)”, for intellectual discuss of African art and culture. The Yemisi Shyllon Professorial Chair for fine art and design in 2016, sponsored a one week exhibition of the over 2000 years old Chinese sculptures and photo diary of the Chinese Qin dynasty, in Lagos, Nigeria.

Prince Shyllon is the joint author of a 200 page art coffee table book and a 76 page book on the Yoruba traditional art in his collection, among other publications, lectures and presentations around the world. 
Prince Shyllon has selflessly donated few notable life size sculptural monuments to public places and institutions in Nigeria, among which, are the eighteen (18) life size sculptures, at the Freedom Park in Lagos, Nigeria and huge & prestigious monuments at the Universities of Lagos and Ibadan of Nigeria. At the University of Ibadan, Prince Shyllon additionally donated three sculptural pieces for the Professor Ade Ajayi garden, contributed to restoring the university of Ibadan zoo and restored the 10ft by 3ft painting (oil on canvas) of Ben Ewonwu (1952) displayed in the vice chancellor’s office.

Prince (Dr.) Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Bsc (Hons) Engr, MBA, LLB(Hons), BL, D.Litt, F.loD, FNSE, FCS, FNIM, FCIM, FNIMN, FEPHM, FCIAN,COREN.


N3.5b Shyllon Museum Excites Art Community


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.
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-à-vis our creativity.



Thursday 14 February 2019

Visit of Folake Coker



Below are some pictures taken on thursday the 7th of February 2019, of Folake Coker, the founder of Tiffany Ambers fashion house, Aanena Jemitola, former Edo State Commisioner for arts and Culture, and the two executives of Tiffany Ambers fashions, namely; Wunika Mukan and Nkiru Adekoya to OYASAF. They were given a presentation about OYASAF activities and some five hours extensive tour of the foundation's art collection.  









Friday 18 January 2019

VISIT OF THE TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM OF THE LAGOS STATE COUNCIL OF ART AND CULTURE (L.S.C.A.C) TO OYASAF

Photograph by OYASAF Documentary photographer. RALPH MFON OBOT

The above, is the picture taken during the presentation of a gift to Prince Yemisi Shyllon during the visit of the top management team of the Lagos State Council of Art and Culture (L.S.C.A.C) to OYASAF. The L.S.C.A.C  team was led by its director, Mrs S.O Otulana,  which team  included Mr Mudashiru Ayoola (Assistant director of  L.S.C.A.C), Mr Omole Ekundayo (Principal cultural officer of  L.S.C.A.C) and Mr Olumide Labinjo (Higher Executive officer of  L.S.C.A.C ). The picture shows Prince Shyllon, gratefully receiving the L.S.C.A.C gift from Mrs Otulana.

Thursday 17 January 2019

VISIT OF JAMES GREEN TO OYASAF


The Curator of the gallery of African Art, James Green, at Yale University, visited OYASAF on the 16th of January 2019. His visit to OYASAF was to locate some artworks of Bamgboye of Oda Owa, towards the  upcoming exhibition about the work of  the artist, by Yale University and the  creation of a befitting  Catalogue for the exhibition. James Green was warmly received by Prince Yemisi Shyllon and taken on an intensive tour of the OYASAF collection. The visit to OYASAF by James Green gave the visitor the opportunity to interact with the three  OYASAF practicing  Artists who are in  their current residency programme with OYASAF. 
Below are some photographs about the visit.
  Photograph by OYASAF Documentary photographer. RALPH MFON OBOT
  Photograph by OYASAF Documentary photographer. RALPH MFON OBOT

  Photograph by OYASAF Documentary photographer. RALPH MFON OBOT



Thursday 3 January 2019

Commencement of OYASAF 2019 Artists in Residence Program


                                                 Photograph by OYASAF Documentary photographer. RALPH MFON OBOT


Kobonye Eugene Ebipade (Painter)


Obialo Amstrong Udochukwu (Sculptor)

Omodamwen Kelly (Sculptor).
The five weeks OYASAF 2019 artists in residence program has commenced with the arrival of three practicing artists who are graduates of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi in Edo state, Nigeria.  They are Kobonye Eugene Ebipade (Painter), Obialo Amstrong Udochukwu (Sculptor) and Omodamwen Kelly (Sculptor). They were received by Prince Yemisi Shyllon on arrival at OYASAF, as shown above.