must be modern , built to accommodate and look after those works that are collected . But you don ’ t have that . Go to our National Museum , the biggest owner of Nigeria works in Nigeria today , you will cry to see the state of their archives , where most of these works are stored . National Museum must be talking about thousands of works of art that they have collected for over 60 to 70 years . And they can only exhibit a few 100s at any given time . What do you do with the rest ? You have to have a proper storage facility .
From what you have shared , there is an opportunity for private museums like yours all around the country . Do you see this happening ? This came up during my meeting with the new Oba of Benin a few months ago . He is contemplating establishing a private museum . If you go around the various palaces especially the ancient ones like the Benin Kingdom the Ife Kingdom , some shrines we have in the eastern part of Nigeria . Then going up to the Nok , you will find that they still have enough works with which they can build a proper museum . Which was why I was fascinated when the new Oba of Benin , Omo n ’ Oba , brought the issue up , taking about collaborating with Didi Museum to establish some kind of museum around the palace of the Oba of Benin . I jumped at it . And I am going to take him up on it . That will probably help in replicating its kind in various palaces where I know there are still stores of a lot of art that tell our stories . Going back to looking at it as a business , you know there was a time not too long ago , artists were mainly seen as dropouts . You have to go back to the Ben Enwonwus and the Professor Grillos , to find people that took up art as a profession but even then , they taught in addition . They didn ’ t make a living from just selling their artworks . But today just because of the exposure that I spoke of earlier on and the education that goes with that exposure , in Nigeria you now have some artist millionaires . And that is because one started this whole exposing , bringing out what we have , educating people about them . I have told stories going back to the 60s , Nigerian homes and offices were developed
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Art , we must first realise , is an investment . There are people who now prefer art to gold or to real estate because it is one piece of instrument that can stand the test of time and it appreciates .”
with imported art - lilies and landscapes – brought in from outside the country . People decorate their living room and offices with that , today , with only about 50 years of this kind of awareness and education , there is hardly any imported work in any home or office anymore . Apart from the business angle , it goes on to enhance our tourism potential . There are cities and places in the world today that are known for their art like Florence of Italy ; Van Gogh institutions all
• An Ife terracotta head at Didi museum
over Holland , then Picasso galleries . They have all become tourism centres . These are the kind of attractions that people should boast of . Not to talk about France where you have numerous galleries and museum that attract millions of visitors every year . Because the average human being would want stories told , not just to have a piece of work but when the work tells a story , it makes it more valuable and more attractive .
Have you ever done an audit of your collection to know the aggregate value of your entire collection ? I have documented them . I have indexed them . The entire audit is ongoing but in terms of valuing them , I am scared to do that because I didn ’ t start collecting them for that . I ’ m scared because I am scared of being seen as a rich person . Wealthy , yes . I would rather tend towards wealth . I ’ d tell you a story . We got permission from the National Museum to exhibit in London in 1985 . British Airways decided to celebrate Nigeria ’ s 25 th Independence by hosting an exhibition of Nigerian works in London and they approached Didi Museum because we have works that tell stories about our Nigeria heritage and they wanted to use that to commemorate our 25 th Independence Anniversary . We applied to the National Museum and got permission . My wife was the curator . They later told me that there was a particular work ( I won ’ t mention the name )
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that somebody had passed by , an
American , and had offered them , well over $ 1m for this one work . And this was over 30 years ago . When they told me that , we were very much in a hurry to finish the exhibition , gather all the works and come back to Nigeria because that put a lot of fear in me whether to bring or not to bring in a professional valuer . But then that raises the question . Was this being done for investment or for passion ? The education that one gives to the people and the passion that goes with it , is what has given us so much joy . Investment side of it ? No . Because I have made it absolutely clear – we will never sell any of our works . I am putting that down already in my last testament . I can loan a work , even to my children , but that ’ s how far I can go .
What would you say to the private collector who wants to start collecting art ? Art , we must first realise , is an investment . There are people who now prefer art to gold or to real estate because it is one piece of instrument that can stand the test of time and it appreciates . It is not affected by the demand and supply dynamics that affect the currencies , the price of gold and silver , real estate investment , financial derivatives . It is not affected by all those market dynamics . Art continues to appreciate over time and I ’ m not talking 50 years or 100 years . I ’ m talking of hundreds of years . Look at what goes on in the art market today , what goes on at various auctions . Art has always appreciated . Every year the price goes up , look at the ancient civilisations that are laid for at the various auctions . The kind of prices you hear these people talk about . But this is known to only very few people , those connoisseurs , those that have eye to see that this is something that is worth collecting and preserve . There are works that were even discarded some 20 to 30 years ago . Suddenly , somebody with an eye stumbles on it and says , this is priceless . It ’ s a gift or talent to say , this is what is worth today but in 10 years , it will be something else . People bought works for £ 200 or $ 300 , 20 years ago and today they are auctioning for £ 1 million . Why is it so ? Because whoever bought it for £ 200 or $ 300 , 20 years ago knew that today it will be worth a high price . And they are collecting today for 40 years from now . And like I said before , the work will never be affected by this so-called demand and supply syndrome affecting most investments .