Nigeria Content Online

The 2011 University
of Lagos art entrepreneurship workshop will emphasise the teaching of
skills to enable its participants to produce affordable, sellable and
market-driven art.

This was disclosed
on Wednesday, April 20, by the workshop’s organisers at a press
conference held to announce the training, which will be held at the
main auditorium of UNILAG from May 3 to 9.

Yemisi Shyllon,
founder of the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Art Foundation (OYASAF), which
will sponsor the training, and artist Peju Layiwola, the training
coordinator, briefed the press jointly. Facilitators Kathleen Stafford,
Sam Ovraiti and Ariyo Oguntimehin, were also present.

Layiwola said it is
not enough being an artist without the requisite entrepreneurial skills
and that this motivated the training. The UNILAG creative arts lecturer
also thanked OYASAF, which is footing the bill for all participants,
for agreeing to support the week-long training.

Shyllon, a major
art collector, also spoke on the partnership. He noted that it is a
deliberate collaboration both parties will protect and cherish. “I
bought into the project and I got the board of trustees of OYASAF to
support. That is why we are here collaborating,” he added. He
reiterated that the foundation is committed to the growth of artists
and the continuity of the workshop.

The duo disclosed
that the training will focus mainly on repousse, watercolour, pastel
painting, ceramics/ jewellery, and printmaking. Participants will also
be taught the techniques behind selling artworks at reasonable prices
and how to integrate industrial processes for the mass production of
artworks. They will also interact with successful art practitioners who
will attend the sessions.

Responding to the
government’s willingness to encourage art students, Joe Musa, a former
director general of the National Gallery of Art, said there is a
disconnect between the “conception stage of art policies and the
implementation stage.” He added, “Though the processes are there, it is
not getting to the common man.”

Shyllon weighed in
by imploring art lovers to look away from government grants. He
explained that what government needs to provide is the right
environment, policies and regulations. He reiterated that art
development lies with the individuals willing to invest their time and
money in schools and stressed the need for public-private partnerships.

The training, which will hold daily from 9am, will end on May 9 with
a grand finale and an awards ceremony at the Arts Theatre, which
located in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lagos.