Whenever I meet someone new, one of the first questions I get is, "Are you making sales'" <br><br>I used to be quite taken aback by the question but I soon realised that the question is not out of place. <br><br> The world art market is a lopsided world which favours the established and known artists much more than the emerging and new artists. But in Nigeria, it is much worse. Like I stated in a TVC interview not too long ago, the Nigerian art industry is plagued by a general lack of appreciation for art. <br><br>The average Nigerian art lover who has many 'artworks' at home does not particularly care if the artwork in his living room is a printed picture randomly picked from the internet or a plagiarised piece of art. To the untrained eye, if it is a beautiful painting, pottery or sculpture, then it is art.<br><br>And for the people who have managed to develop techniques and styles way different from what is traditionally known, many are generally out of the conversation. Even the so called curators tend to relegate the works to the world of craft while others advice them to make 'sellable' art. <br><br>This puts so many artists jostling for sales to make more of the art types that sell, while many focus on painting celebrities to push their art. But are they to blame'<br><br>Now the problem with the so called sellable art is that the artist has endeavoured to water down the art of self expression, focusing mainly on what the audience wants to see and not necessarily what is right or true to him. <br><br>As it occurs, even the few who 'genuinely' love art will only agree to buy your best works for a fraction of the price you would sell them abroad, while praising your creativity and admiring the aesthetics. <br><br>The clamour for the return of Nigerian artefacts from foreign museums and collectors is a fine curtain that appears to highlight how much our artefacts are valued by us, but are they, really' History has it that many of the artefacts had to be dug up, does the fact that they were buried show how much they were valued by us' Or did we only start valuing them after they were taken from us' Do we even deserve these artworks other than for the reason that they are ours' Had they not been plundered and taken abroad, would we have eventually expressed the immense value that we have for them' Or would they still have been underground' That is left to be said. <br><br>If you are a Nigerian artist, I would love to know how easy you find traversing the Nigerian art terrain and how you manage to make sales and build an enviable life.
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