National Gallery of Art


		N I G E R I A

WELCOME

Welcome to the Web site of the National Gallery of Art, Nigeria. The National Gallery of Art is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Nigeria responsible for the collection, preservation, documentation and presentation of Nigeria's contemporary plastic arts, with headquarters at the prowling city of Abuja, capital of Nigeria but with branches in the six geo-political zones of the Country. Our main exhibition is the National Gallery of Modern Art located at the National Theatre Lagos. A Portrait Gallery is under construction in Minna, Niger State while a number of Studios and Workshops have been built to accommodate young and up-coming artists who seek a good working environment to practice freely and to build their own art community. These workshops are presently located in Lagos, Umuahia, Oshogbo, Minna, Uyo, Igbo-Ukwu, Lafia and PortHarcourt.

Contemporary Nigerian art is rich in form and content. It derives from a long tradition of artistic excellence that dates as far back as the Nok civilization of more than 2000 years, Alhough, recent archeological findings extend Nigeria's earliest evidence of civilization to Sukur, an ancient Settlement in Nigeria's North East Zone, now designated as a world heritage site and dated to about 4000. Contacts with the modern world from colonial times have led to the intrusion of outside influences into Nigerian art which together with other arts of Africa has also influenced the tradition of other countries.