National Gallery of Arts

In Maiduguri the keeper of the local branch of the National Gallery of Arts (NGA), Mr. Edore, had suggested I check out the archives and storage of the NGA in Lagos. He also explained that I would need to obtain clearance from the Head Office, if possible the Director General, in Abuja. Hence, before I went to Abuja I contacted their public relations officer and finally met with her the day after I arrived. She was very kind and helpful and introduced me to the Head of Curatorial Practices. He in turn wrote me a letter of introduction for the keeper in Lagos.
Once in Lagos, I went to the National Gallery. I was taken around the exhibition – which unfortunately only displays a limited number of works at the moment as the second exhibition floor is currently being renovated – and allowed access to the library, the storage of works and their files about works and the artists represented in their collection. Especially, the latter proved to be an interesting source about some of the better established artists from Zaria for which their contained extensive CVs. So much that I ended up spending almost three days making use of their facilities.

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