The Opening Ceremony of an Exhibation, of Art works from the Private collection of Erelu Dr Abiola Dosumu, Held on Sunday 25-4-2021, At Terra Kulture Art Gallery Victoria Lagos
Pix From Left ; Erelu Dr Abiola Dosumu, Olori Francis Meshioye, and Oba Gbolahan Lawal, the oniru of iruland during the tour round of exhbition in lagos . PHOTO; Joe Akintola , Photo Editor,

 By Prisca Sam-Duru

Art and culture enthusiasts were treated recently, to an impressive display of stunning artworks collected over the years by HRM, Erelu (Dr.) Abiola Dosumu, Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos.

The art pieces which adorned the walls of the exhibition hall of Terra Kulture, Lagos, between April 25 and May 5, 2021, were by two special artists of HRH Dosumu-Fred Archibong and Emmanuel Inua.

The exhibition served the purposes of promoting the duo artists’ works which according to the Erelu, seem to have disappeared from the radar. The aim of the exhibition also was to share Erelu’s private collections with other people even though the main thrust was to promote and draw attention to her two favourite artists.

The exhibition she maintained, was also designed to promote the interest of private collectors stressing that “Artworks by foreigners sell for millions of dollars unlike what we have in Nigeria. Here, we have so much collection by great artists but nobody is promoting them and bringing them into the consciousness of the public. So this is encouraging art-collecting-habit so that we can add value to the economy by drawing attention to the importance of collecting artworks to develop the economy”.

“Archibong was a great sculptor and painter, who worked with Ben Enwonwu with whom he produced the effigy in front of the old NITEL office. He also did a sculpture of Queen Elizabeth 2nd that was in Tafawa Balewa till independence”, she added.

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Erelu who revealed that she has been collecting artworks from her 20s pledged to donate some of the artworks, which prices range between N650,000 and N20,000,000.00 to charity and sell some to promote talented artists. “We have an art and culture academy, where we give full scholarships to talented artists. If anyone is interested, he or she can apply to the centre on Tiamiyu Savage Street in Victoria Island, Lagos, and would get a full scholarship.”

She urged the Federal Government to promote works of art, which she emphasised, have the capacity to boost the nation’s economy.

“There are so many ways the government can assist art and culture by setting up galleries, academies and giving scholarships to budding and talented artists. Some people have natural gifts, so they should be given the opportunity to exhibit them. We should develop a system where the government can assist Nigerian artists to showcase their talents in other parts of the world because art is our way of life.”

Bashorun J. K Randle who was Chairman at the opening of the exhibition said that artworks could be used as a healing balm in a nation that is facing a crisis like Nigeria, urging Nigerians to embrace works of art, which he said would help to capture some of the beautiful things in the country.

“Artworks can help tourism, but security is important. We need to emphasize security, which is what can help our art. I am very proud to be part of the promotion of artworks by Erelu Abiola Dosunmu. It is good for Africans to appreciate these artworks. Some of the artworks here cannot be found anywhere else,” he said,

His Royal Majesty, Oniru of Iruland, Oba Gbolahan Lawal who was a special guest of honour, commended Erelu Abiola Dosunmu for the efforts, describing her as his mentor and someone very passionate about artworks.

Vanguard News Nigeria