Lagos as the cultural power house of Nigeria, currently experiences new developments in the museum scene: On Lagos Island, the heart of the city, new museum projects in close neighborhood to the National Museum are planned. Similar ideas are developed in other cities in the countries, i.e. in Benin City.
On the other hand, private collectors have started opening up their private museums in order to make them accessible to the interested public. Some of them are often not satisfied with the regulations and standards of public museums so they prefer to exhibit their collection in buildings developed and funded by themselves.
Goethe-Institut Nigeria, in cooperation with SMO Contemporary Art , has invited four highly-acclaimed experts of the Nigerian cultural scene in order to discuss the question: "Public Museums and Private Collections - Synergy or Competition?"
Panelists:
Photo: Unilever Nigeria
His Majesty Nnaemeka Achebe, CFR, mni, Obi of Onitsha, is 77 years old. Educated at Stanford and Columbia Universities, U.S.A., he had a 30-year international career with the Royal Dutch/ Shell Group. A former chairman of Diamond Bank and Universal Insurance PLC, he is chairman of Unilever Nigeria, International Breweries, Tishona Limited, Hero’s Foundation, and Chimedie Museum Trust Foundation. He is Chairman of Anambra State Traditional Council and South East Council of Traditional Rulers, respectively, and Trustee of the National Traditional Rulers’ Council. He is Trustee, Scout Association of Nigeria, Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, and former Chancellor, Kogi State University. He is Fellow of the College of Education, Nsugbe, Nigerian Institute of Management, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Institute of Directors Nigeria, National Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria, and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrator Nigeria. He holds honorary doctorate degrees of ABU, UNN, and Anambra and Kogi States Universities. He is a patron of the arts.
Photo: TY Bello
Dr Adhiambo Odaga is an executive consultant whose recent assignments include working with FMCG, service, philanthropic, and cultural organizations to strengthen their operations, internal controls/risk management, profitability and programming. She was the pioneer Managing Director of Dangote Foundation, a leading corporate foundation promoting health, economic empowerment and supporting humanitarian work in Nigeria and around the world. As Director of Pan Africa Programs/Representative-West Africa of the Ford Foundation she oversaw programs that championed rights and governance, advocated for improved reproductive health for youth and women, advanced economic development, promoted culture, philanthropy and championed media pluralism. She also project managed the construction of the Ford Foundation’s iconic office in Lagos, Nigeria. Prior to that, at the World Bank she worked on girls’ education in Africa. She also served as Social Scientist for West Africa for the International Potato Center. An Urban Studies graduate of College of St. Catherine, St. Paul Minnesota, she has a Master of City and Regional Planning Degree from University of California at Berkeley and Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College) which she attended as the first Rhodes Scholar from Kenya.
Photo: Kadara Enyeasi
Azu Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), a non- profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. He was recently elected as the Director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in South Africa. Azu Nwagbogu also serves as Founder and Director of LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the creator of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary African Art. Azu Nwagbogu served as a juror for the Dutch Doc, POPCAP Photography Awards, the World press Photo, Prisma Photography Award (2015), Greenpeace Photo Award (2016), New York Times Portfolio Review (2017-18), W. Eugene Smith Award (2018), Photo Espana (2018) and is a regular juror for organizations such as Lensculture and Magnum. For the past 20 years, he has curated private collections for various prominent individuals and corporate organizations in Africa. Azu Nwagbogu obtained a Masters in Public Health from The University of Cambridge. He lives and works alternatively in CapeTown, South Africa and Lagos, Nigeria.
Photo: MRS EKUNKE
Edith O. Ekunke is the Acting Director of Museums, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria. She is the immediate past Curator of National Museum, Lagos, and one time International Desk Liaison Officer of the Commission. Edith O.Ekunke has attended and participated in international exhibitions, seminars and conferences. She is a member of the team that curated and organized the National Cultural and Historical Exhibition “The Journey of Our Independence in Nigeria- Nigeria @ 50, 2010.
Moderator:
Photo: SMO Contemporary Art
Nneoma Ilogu (b. 1989), manager at SMO Contemporary Art, graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a Bachelors of Science in Dietetics in 2011, after which she obtained a Masters of Public Health at the University of Kentucky in 2014. Passionate about the promotion of health, she worked at the March of Dimes in Lexington, Kentucky, and Iberia Medical Centre in New Iberia, Louisiana, amongst other hospitals and health centers. On her return to Nigeria in 2015, she channeled this passion into her love for the arts, and is actively mapping ways in which to communicate health and human issues through the arts.
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