Open letter to Senator Adams Oshiomhole
I am constrained to reach out to you through this means because of my difficult experience in accessing highly placed political figures in Nigeria. Please forgive me. Owing to the depth of your knowledge and discernible genuine interest in the overall development of Nigeria, I wish to draw your attention to the imperative of not allowing the vision for the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City to be truncated by a political power game. Although I am from Kogi State, my professional affiliation and academic research warrant my interest in the issues around the success of the museum project.
With a background in art and African art history, my PhD research in Arts Management and Cultural Policy at Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom, used the internationalisation of contemporary art from Nigeria to interrogate the dynamics of power relationships and competition in the global art market. Thus, I am appropriately positioned to reach out to you on the above subject matter.
On 20 November 2020, after a presentation of my preliminary findings at the monthly research lecture series in the Department of Art History and Cultural Policy at the University College Dublin, Ireland, a researcher requested to know my position on the growing clamour for the return of looted Benin art objects. Without hesitation, I responded that I did not support the return of those objects at that time. Instantly, I felt the aura of surprise and disappointment in the hall. How can a Nigerian be so unpatriotic? The rationale for my response then was my research findings, which establish that Nigeria lacks the necessary cultural infrastructure to drive a robust international engagement in art. Principal among these is world class art museum, which is critical to art development in any country, and the only place where the returned objects could be placed for intellectual and social engagements.
After the lecture, both Dr. Victoria Durrer (the supervisor of my research) and Kathleen James-Chakraborty, a Professor of Art History and the Head of the Department, warned that I should desist from expressing such extreme views in subsequent academic engagement, especially being a Nigerian. Both being Americans who are used to seeing high-valued artworks in the museums that are usually available almost in all American cities, they would not understand my frustration on how the lack of necessary infrastructure has devalued the great works of the exceptionally creative Nigerian artists in the international markets. Nevertheless, with the construction of the world class Museum of West African Art in Benin, I have since been at the forefront of the campaign for the return of the looted arts, for which I have given lectures in Penn State University, Pennsylvania, United States of America (February 2023) and Heilbronn University, Germany (November 2023).
Art gains value through a process that involves validating institutions, including museums, biennials, art journals, etc., and various experts, usually called intermediaries or tastemakers, who include art historians, curators, and critics. Since contemporary art has a peculiar language that is not easily comprehensible, it requires art historians to contextualise it by linking the style and aesthetic tendencies to historical movements. The art critic appraises and establishes the quality, while the curator’s job is to interpret these and present them in ways that the public can comprehend and resonate with the artwork, and such presentations are more valid in consecrated environments such as museums and biennials.
The museum and biennials gain their validating power from their focus beyond economic gains or sales. Thus, the art world accepts that any art or artist that appears in world-class museums is consecrated (legitimated), especially when they have also been subjects of reviews in art journals by an opinionated art critic. These are the taste-making processes that enlighten people, including the wealthy, about the intrinsic value of art, and that is how tastes are cultivated, and the audience and demand for art are developed. Subsequently, the art of such countries gains economic value in commercial contexts such as galleries and art fairs.
It is such domestic validation and valuation that forms the basis for international acceptance and valuation. Unfortunately, my research revealed that these are all lacking in Nigeria, which is expected to be at the forefront of African cultural renaissance. That is why in his book, Understanding International Art Markets and Management, Iain Robertson (former Director of Art Business at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, now a Professor of Art and Cultural Management at Hongik University, South Korea) establishes that the value of art is determined by the state of cultural infrastructure in the context (country) of production. That explains why a single artwork by the young American-based Nigerian artist, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, commanded a higher value than the aggregate of Nigerian artworks sold at auctions (local and international) in 2017. That also explains why the works of Bruce Onabrakpeya command far less value than those of his German contemporary Gerhard Richter, even when both have equally committed to art practice and experimentation since the 1960s.
It is not a coincidence that the countries described as prosperous or developed are those with good cultural industries infrastructures. In these countries, the creative industries have proven to be catalysts for the development of other sectors. For example, America has over 33,000 art museums (of various classifications), including over 700 university art museums. China has over 6000 art museums, while Germany has about 465 art museums. My research revealed that Nigeria has not been able to access the gains of its creative potentials because it is invisible on the global cultural industries radar due to apathetic cultural leadership, a deficient and inconsistent funding system, and lack of the cultural infrastructure required for local validation, which forms the basis for strong internationalisation. These were all connected to the lack of a concrete legislative framework, and that is why the decision of President Bola Tinubu to create a Ministry for the Creative Industries is seen by creative practitioners as a positive sign, although so much still needs to be done to actualise the gains.
Contemporary art museum, as vital as it is to the development of art, is lacking in Nigeria and that is why the vision for the Museum of West African Art in Benin, which is the only world class museum in West Africa is beyond Benin or Edo State, but a Nigerian and even West African issue that must not be truncated. When fully operational, it will provide opportunities for Nigerians through undergraduate and postgraduate internships and placements to develop capacities in the essential taste-making skills in art criticism and curating.
There is no doubt that MOWAA is a world class museum, conceptualised by Adjaye Associates, New York who are also the designers of The Studio Museum in Harlem in New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Colorado; Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC; and the Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, among many others. The struggle between the revered palace of Benin and the Edo State government over the custody of the returned artworks is also unwarranted. This is because whichever part of Benin the Museum is located remains part of the Benin Kingdom. It should also be noted that MOWAA is not restricted to housing the returned looted ancient artworks from Europe, but it also caters to the contemporary/postcolonial art of West Africa.
I, therefore, through this medium, appeal to Your Excellency not to allow the power play between the various political tendencies in Edo State to truncate the MOWAA vision. Nigeria still needs more museums and other cultural infrastructures to enable it to tap into the abundance of creativity of Nigerians. Most importantly, Nigeria needs a concrete political framework for the productive governance of its abundant cultural and creative resources. We can take a cue from either of America’s facilitator approach through the National Endowment for the Arts, or the patron and arms-length approach of the British through the Art Councils, or the centralised model of France, superintended by the Ministry of Culture.
We need to move away from the ambiguous, and ineffective three in one system that consists of a Ministry of Culture that supervises an art council (the National Council for Arts and Culture), which also has an unfulfilled mandate to establish a National Endowment for the Arts. After a proper understanding of the dynamics of the global cultural system, I have no modicum of doubt that you (HE, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole) will become, not just a champion for MOWAA, but an advocate and eve a lecturer for the proper management of the Nigerian creative and cultural resources.
Therefore, it is my plea to you that, rather than allow the MOWAA vision to be truncated by political power struggle, kindly use your influence to sustain the vision and project for Nigeria.
Adeyemi, PhD, is of the African Art Agency, Consultancy and Research in the United Kingdom
