TP-Collective announce the first edition of ART X Lagos, a new art fair designed to widen Nigeria’s connection to the contemporary art scene across Africa and internationally.

ART X Lagos has been created to consolidate the role of the visual arts as an important component of the creative industry and contribute to the increased visibility of contemporary artists from Africa, creating a vibrant art market and positioning Lagos as an emergent cultural capital on the continent. In so doing the aim is to provide the best insight into what the visual art sector in Africa has to offer to a wider local and international audience, and encourage African and international patrons to visit Lagos.

ART X Lagos will feature a selected group of invited art galleries from Nigeria, across Africa and the Diaspora, showcasing the most innovative contemporary art by over 45 established and emerging artists. Exhibitors at ART X Lagos will include galleries such as Art House – The Space (Nigeria), Bloom Art (Nigeria), SMO Contemporary (Nigeria), Goodman Gallery (South Africa) and Stevenson Gallery (South Africa), amongst others. Included in the overall programme will be interactive projects and presentations that entertain a broader audience, including live areas for performance artists, illustrators and graffiti artists.

The 3-day art fair will take place at The Civic Centre, a state of the art conference and banquet centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, from Friday 4th November to Sunday 6th November 2016.

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Bisi Silva & Tokini Peterside

‘As Nigeria and its neighbouring countries seek to diversify and expand their economies, the investment in the creative industry via Art X Lagos, offers a vital platform for growth and increased visibility, to artists and galleries.‘ states ART X Lagos Founder, and Director of TP-Collective, Tokini Peterside. ‘Our aim with Art X Lagos is to encourage greater patronage of artists across the board in Africa, and to inspire young people and the future generations of artists. We are very happy to be working with the acclaimed international curator, Bisi Silva, who is working closely with the galleries as well as developing a dynamic programme of exhibitions, commissions and talks.‘

Artistic Director of ART X Lagos, Bisi Silva, says: ‘I am extremely excited to be part of this pioneering initiative. I believe this art fair can become one of the key ways in which we begin to develop and internationalise the art sector in Africa as well as add value to the incredible work that is being created across the continent. In this way an art ecosystem can be developed that contributes to the visibility and sustainability of artistic practice as well as allows for collaboration and partnerships across the continent and further afield. During Art X Lagos visitors will be presented with a dynamic programme of curated projects, live events, as well as a vibrant talks programme. Our goal is for Art X Lagos to deliver an exceptional, uniquely designed experience spread across all three floors of the Civic Centre.’

ART X Lagos welcomes a diverse audience of art lovers, cultural practitioners, art collectors and connoisseurs, as well as students and young adults as we set out to position the West African region, and specifically Lagos, as an important destination on the global cultural calendar.

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ART X Talks

ART X Lagos debuts a rich and vibrant Talks programme with over 30 local and international speakers.

Dates: Saturday 5th November 2016 Sunday 6th November 2016
Curated by Bisi Silva, Artistic Director, ART X Lagos

ART X Talks is an integral component of the fair’s special programmes which provides a dynamic and vibrant discursive platform to highlight some of the topical issues concerning contemporary art and its evolving infrastructures across the continent. Composed of panel discussions, presentations and conversations, the distinguished list of guest speakers includes artists, collectors, curators, gallerists, writers and entrepreneurs, who all engage the possibilities of art as a vehicle through which our contemporary experience can be articulated and understood.

A focal point of this year’s ART X Talks will interrogate the nature of collecting and collections – private and institutional – in Africa and the Diaspora. Through panels such as The Art of Collecting, African Art and its Markets, Collecting Beyond the Familiar, a wide and diverse range of ideas and perspectives will provide a picture of an evolving art ecology.
Our speakers include Nigerian collector and founder OYASAF Foundation, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon, Chief Curator and Director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, Mark Coetzee, Economist and Journalist Tayo Fagbunle, as well as Art Patrons and Collectors Ngozi Edozien, Femi Lijadu and Ifeoma Fafunwa amongst others.

To complement the different voices about collecting and broaden the discussion to encompass the creative economy we explore the way in which the visual arts can and should take advantage of a multibillion dollar industry. Unlike their counterparts in film, music and to some extent fashion, the visual arts still needs to increase its impact to a wider audience nationally and internationally. An exciting phenomenon is the rise and visibility of women collectors, artists, curators, writers as well as cultural managers and entrepreneurs. ART X Talks collaborates with Art Forum Africa initiated by dynamic cultural practitioners and entrepreneurs Bukola Oyebode and Wana Udobang. In the panel The African Collector focus will be placed on the identities of collectors, highlighting women artists in art collections as well as women collecting art. An appropriate context in which to acknowledge the rise and the visibility of women artists who continue in many countries to be an ignored minority.

Finally through in-depth conversations and interviews we are able to focus on a particular subject or issue, the trajectory of an artist, the vision underpinning a personal collection, professional curatorial practice amongst other topical issues. Our conversations with internationally acclaimed artists Bruce Onobrakpeya and El Anatsui bring cumulatively over one hundred and twenty years of artistic practice in Africa into focus. The voice of the elders has nurtured what we do today. Whilst the development of the visual art system is growing exponentially across the continent more platforms are still needed for the presentation and the dissemination of critical reflections that concern the sector. ART X Talks will respond to this actuality by bringing a multiplicity of voices to the widest audience possible.

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Saturday 5th November 2016

1. The Art of Collecting 11.00am – 12.00pm
For decades, the presence of collectors and collections have remained imperceptible to the general audience. However, in recent years their growing visibility constitutes the only way entire communities have access to or experience the Visual Arts. This panel is an opportunity to learn about how individuals start to collect, institutions build their collections as well as an insight into the way art is bought.

Omooba Yemisi Shyllon, collector and founder OYASAF Foundation, Lagos
Zoe Whitley, Research Curator, supported by GTBank, Tate Modern, London
Joost Bosland, Director, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
Mark Coetzee, Director and Chief Curator Zeitz MoCAA, Cape Town

Moderator, Femi Lijadu, Lawyer, collector and art patron

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2. African Art and its Markets: Hype or Reality? 12.00pm -1.00pm
As the hype continues around the market for African art with auctions springing up across the continent in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria as well as big players such as Bonham and Sothebys joining the frame, this panel asks Where are the markets? Who is buying contemporary African art? and what are the real figures?

Tayo Fagbunle, Economist and Journalist
Kavita Chellaram, Arthouse – The Space, Lagos
Marwan Zahkem, Collector and Founder, Gallery 1957, Accra

Moderator, Oliver Enwonwu, Director, Omenka Gallery and President, Society of Nigerian Artists. (SNA)

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3. Positioning Art within the Creative Economy, 2.00pm – 3.00pm
The creative industry is a multibillion global economy in which Africa’s share still remains negligible outside of film, music and fashion. What is the real state of the African creative sector? What strategies are needed to increase its share of the global market? What role can government play to support the sector’s development? How can we respond to the UN Creative Economy report?

Ade Adekola, Architect, and Artist
Ade Bantu, Musician and Founder, Afropolitan Vibes
Maki Oh, Fashion designer

Moderator, Malaika Toyo, Head Strategy and Projects, A Whitespace Creative Agency

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4. The African Collector 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Presented by Art Forum Africa
Despite reports in the media, by art houses in Nigeria as well as news from auction houses outside the continent that more Africans are collecting art by African artists, an attempt to identify who these collectors are reveals little results and a number of problems. Some of the issues that will be discussed include; How influential are African collectors in the local and global art markets? Are women interested in art and collecting? How can we nurture a new generation of collectors locally and increase art appreciation? What is the current market value of African art and the influence of African collectors in the art market?

Ifeoma Fafunwa, Art Collector, Creative Professional, Gender Equality Advocate
Ngozi Edozien, Art Collector and Finance/ Investment Professional∗
Moses Ohiomokhare, Curator and Art Manager, Quintessence

Moderators: Bukola Oyebode, Art Writer/Critic, Founding Editor, TSA Magazine and  Wana Udobang, Journalist, Poet, Filmmaker, and Curator

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5. Women Artists and (in)Visibility 4.00pm – 5.00pm
In 1971 American art historian Linda Nochlin wrote her famous essay Why are there no great woman artists? The text was not an affirmation of a lack of quality of women’s work, but the way in which institutional marginalization engendered this invisibility. Similarly the achievements of the pioneering Nigerian modern women artists such as Clara Etso- Ugbodaga, Afi Ekong, and Theresa Luck Akinwale seem to have almost been written out of history. With the rise and the visibility of women artists in the 21st century we explore the strategies – if any – being put in place by contemporary practitioners to avoid the fate of their predecessors?

Fati Abubakar, Photographer
Sokari Douglas Camp, Sculptor
Celine Seror, Co-Founder and Editor IAM Magazine

Moderator, N’Goné Fall, Curator and Cultural Consultant

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6. Artist Talking 5.00pm – 6.00pm
Master printer and artist, Bruce Onobrakpeya, a founding member of the ‘Zaria Rebels’ in 1958 is one of the most important artists of his generation with a long and distinguished national and international career. An octogenarian with an artistic practice that remains as prolific today as it has been over the past sixty years, he shares his life and works with us.

Bruce Onobrakpeya, Visual Artist in conversation with Sandra Obiago, director, SMO Contemporary Art

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Sunday 6th November 2016

1. In Conversation 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Mark Coetzee will discuss his trajectory as a curator and focus on his role as founding Director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa which is slated to open in Cape Town in 2017. Whilst the initiative has generated much local and international excitement, it has also been on the receiving end of criticism regarding issues of accountability and the vision and taste of one individual.

Mark Coetzee, Director and Chief Curator Zeitz MoCAA, Cape Town in conversation with ART X Artistic Director and Curator Bisi Silva

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2. Collecting Beyond the Familiar – Widening the Parameters of the African Art Collection 3.00pm – 4.00pm
As the dominance of painting and sculpture remain unchallenged not only in Nigeria but globally, it means that artists working outside these principal two media struggle to find patronage. In most cases, whilst performance artists such as Jelili Atiku, sound artist Emeka Ogboh and several Nigerian photographers and video artists are gaining recognition and critical acclaim internationally they struggle to find acceptance locally. Such artistic practices rarely find their way into many local collections or institutions. How can collectors begin to widen their collection base making it reflective of the diversity of work being made by artists today?

Oyinda Fakeye, Video Art Network, Lagos
Uche Okpa Iroha, Photographer and Director/Founder of Nlele Institute
Hakeem Adedeji, collector and patron.

Moderator  Joseph Gergel, Curator and Consultant

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3. Cultural Entrepreneurship and the Rise of Women Leaders: 4.00pm – 5.00pm

A cursory survey of the cultural sectors shows that women dominate the sector. They have set up, grown and managed successful organisations across the arts whether in film, TV, cultural centers, fashion and concept boutiques that fuse the boundaries of art, fashion, lifestyle and design. Why are women thriving in this industry more than in others? what are the skills needed to enter and survive in this field? How do they identify the potential that can be tapped? And what more can women cultural entrepreneurs do?

Mo Abudu, Founder, Ebony Life TV
Reni Folawiyo, Founder, ALARA
Bolanle Austen Peters, Founder and Director, Terra Kulture

Moderator : Tokini Peterside, Founder, ART X Lagos

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4. Artist Talking 5.00pm – 6.00pm
Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, a Professor Emeritus at University of Nigeria, Nsukka is one of the most widely acclaimed contemporary artists based in Africa. Honoured with the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2015, he is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, American Academy of Arts, holding honorary degrees at Harvard University and University of Cape Town. His work is in numerous collections including Tate Modern, Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art and others.

El Anatsui, Visual Artist in conversation with curator Bisi Silva and Nana Offoriata-Ayim, writer, curator and director, ANO, Accra

Note ∗ Have yet to be confirmed at time of press.

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http://artxlagos.com/