L/R: H.E. Sherif Naguib, Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria; Alh. Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, Honourable Minister of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation and Mr. Abdullahi Muku, Ag. DG(NGA) at the Ministerial Press Briefing on NIVATOUR in Abuja, Monday July 12, 2010.
All is now set for the historic debut of the Nigeria Visual Arts World Tour (NIVATOUR); as the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Abuja, Nigeria takes the best of Nigeria’s visual arts to the rest of the world.
This event which was muted about 2 years ago has finally been kicked off with a press conference addressed by Alh. Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, Honourable Minister of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation at the prestigious Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja on Monday 12, July 2010.
It was a parley with the gentlemen of the press to intimate them of the importance of the tour and the enormous benefits derivable to Nigerian artists and the country in general. NIVATOUR will visit cities of Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt. It opens first in Cairo on July 25, 2010; two days after the Egyptian national day celebration and moves to Alexandria on the 9th of August, 2010.
The Honourable Minister in his address stated that NIVATOUR as a tool for the promotion of Nigeria’s visual arts will take the very best of Nigeria’s art around the world. According to the Honourable Minister, the exhibition include 130 excellent paintings, sculptures and mixed-media from the National Collection spanning over eight decades; 30 artworks of 10 contemporary Nigerian artists with another 30 works from 10 cotemporary Egyptian artists. It will also be an avenue to celebrate creativity by bringing together art from Nigeria and Egypt. The event which will also feature an interactive workshop in Cairo, Egypt will provide for cross fertilization of creative ideas between artists from both countries.
The Honourable Minister used the occasion to commend the effort of the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Sherif Naguib for his tireless effort at ensuring the readiness of his country to host the maiden edition.
The Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria in his remarks acknowledged the support the Egyptian Embassy in Nigeria has been receiving from the Honourable Minister, evident in the continuous performance of the Egyptian cultural troupe at successive Abuja carnivals. He expressed satisfaction and appreciation to the Ag Director-General of the NGA, Mr. Abdullahi Muku in ensuring that after two years of discussions, NIVATOUR has become a reality. He also made reference to the support and successful collaboration with the NGA in organising exhibitions and visual arts competitions during the yearly Egyptian cultural week, in commemorating the Egyptian Day. He also on behalf of his Country made a request to the Honourable Minister for the possibility of the Egyptian cultural troupe performing during the Nigeria at 50 celebration scheduled for the later part of the year.
In his welcome address, the Ag. Director General of the NGA, Mr. Abdullahi Muku said NIVATOUR is a ground breaking exhibition aimed at providing a platform for Nigerian contemporary visual artists and their counterparts in other parts of the world to synergize and showcase their wealth of creativity to the world. He stated that the NGA was using NIVATOUR as a vehicle to propagate to the world, the treasures which generations past have handed over to us. The theme for the exhibition according to the Director-General is ”Nigeria-Egypt: African Dialogue in Progress”. Mr. Abdullahi Muku also used the occasion to thank the Nigerian press for their continued support in the growth and development of visual arts in the country. After Egypt, the NIVATOUR ship will berth in the United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Australia and some other African Countries.
Curators of the NIVATOUR exhibition are: Mr. C. Krydz Ikwuemesi, Painter, Theorist and Senior Lecturer, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Mr. Ephraim Ekah of the Curatorial Services department of the NGA.
The following media houses were present at the press briefing: Channels Television, AIT, NTA, the Nations Newspapers, Vanguard, Champions Newspapers, Daily Trust, Compass and Summit Daily Newspapers.
By. Magnus Ojeonu
Programme Analyst (NGA)
13/07/10
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