Specifically , your art has been on auction . Would you say that the response has been good in terms of say financially ? Well , I mean if they weren ’ t satisfied , they wouldn ’ t buy it . In general , I don ’ t think a lot about auctions . I do not make art for the auction market . I really haven ’ t been actively engaged in the auctions .

The few times , I think , my works have only been to one or two auctions in Lagos . My attitude to auctions has always been is kind of ambivalence . Why ? The reason is this ; auction as secondary markets are double-edged swords , once you put your head in , your entire value as an artist could define by an outcome of an auction . Even though it mostly has nothing to do with quality of the artists work . Being aware that the art-buying world sort of follows a herd mentality , I tend to not seek it as a primary source of selling my work . I ’ d be more comfortable working with dealers , museum curators or selling from my studio .

It seems as if one cannot really say this is the reason why this person or that person is collecting art . First of all , the person has to love art . Yes , there are people who collect art as

I would hope that my art would , besides the payment , be taken a lot more seriously in terms of historical and cultural content that I bring into it . Because I do not necessarily use the term make art because it is pretty .

investments , some of them do not even see the art they collect , they contract their collecting to art agents . I don ’ t think majority of Nigerian collectors are at that point yet .

So what do you think these collectors look for specifically ? I am not sure , but I can guess that some are looking to collect art because it makes them happy to live with objects they love . So , they ’ ll look for

the kind and style of art they can relate to . Some people buy art because their status and peer group requires that they own artworks . Others buy because of investment value .

How do you want your art to be valued ? How do you want your art to be looked at ? I hope that my art would be appreciated more than its commercial value . Yes , I could use the money , but I ’ ll get additional satisfaction seeing that the historical , cultural and social content of my work also give pleasure to collectors of my work .

Do you know the value of all your art if you were to put a number to it all together ? I have no idea , I ’ ll ask my accountant . But I think I am comfortable .

And even from that , do you know where your art are ? They are a few in permanent collections of Smithsonian Institution National museum of African Art , Brooks museum , Hood Museum , Krannert Art museum , World bank collection and several private collections around the world .