The acting Director-General of the National Gallery of Arts (NGA), Dr. Simon Odey Ikpakronyi, has decried the lack of a befitting gallery of arts edifice to display works of artists in the country.
Ikpakronyi, who stated this in Abuja at a press briefing where he rolled out the gallery’s post COVID-19 programmes, said without such structure, most art works in its national collection were kept in inconducive environments with artists having limited spaces to exhibit their works in the few private galleries around.
According to him, having such a structure would be of tremendous advantage to visual artists who will have alternative spaces to exhibit their works, while government will begin to earn revenue as fees will be charged from visitors who come to view the exhibitions.
He described Nigeria as one of the few countries in Africa without such edifice, saying the NGA would organize a retreat with members of the National Assembly, Ministry of Information and Culture and other stakeholders to explore the possibility of having a temporary structure to serve as a national gallery and a permanent structure in the long term.
