My journey in art has been beautiful, meaningful —Nana Sonoiki

Curator, art/artist manager and gallery owner, Nana Sonoiki, has spent over two decades in visual art. She speaks about her practice and showcasing talented upcoming artists in this interview. Excerpts.

YOU opened this space, Art Pantheon, in June 2021. What inspired that decision and has is it been worth venturing into?

Absolutely. Having worked with art for the last 21 years of my life, moving from Treasure House Gallery to Arthouse Contemporary Limited as a pioneer staff, it has been an amazing time of my life in this industry. After 13 and a half years of working with Arthouse Contemporary Limited and being in charge of consignments and relationships, I decided to move on because I felt I wanted to do more and I couldn’t do that while I was still working with Art House. So, I left in February 2020.

Then came COVID. All these shows we are just having now were meant to have happened last year. I had drawn up the timetable but COVID came and we couldn’t do anything. We were not sure of the next day. But we braved it and against all odds, I had my very first show in December 2020 when I had ‘Metala’ with Dotun Popoola. This place was already in the making, so we started doing it up gradually and opened officially to the public in July, with an exhibition by Adeyinka Akingbade called ‘State of Mind’. After ‘State of Mind’, we went on to execute the rest of the projects that we already had lined up. Then came ‘Black’ by Yemi Fagbohungbe and it has so far been the only solo exhibition of bronze works in this country. We’re very glad, it was a sold-out show.

Then came ‘Escapism’. It was meant to be our opening show but for the fact that two of the artists were already in the Diaspora, it was a bit difficult. Even after we had opened after COVID, it wasn’t easy with Europe. They had yet to open so we had to wait on them, so that’s why it’s just happening. But like you rightly asked, is it worth going into? Absolutely. It is.

I asked that question because I’m not sure about the rate of art appreciation in the country. If you were to rank it, maybe it would be 30, 35 per cent of the people that appreciate art…

On the contrary, I will say art appreciation in Nigeria right now is about 60%, 70%. I’m 100 per cent sure. The question is what is the purchasing power of a lot of people? So many people love art but can’t afford it. They appreciate art but don’t have the purchasing power, especially in the face of inflation and recession.

So, but even saying that it’s still worth going into. We see art differently. What I want to project might not be what you want to project, so that’s why you find different people coming up with different things. Because of this, there are a lot of collaborations in the offing for us; I believe in the power of joint forces, partnership. So, it’s worth doing.

Do you paint, do you have any artistic background yourself?

I do not paint, I do not draw but I sew and it’s also an aspect of art. But I have a good eye for good art when I see it. Nevertheless, what I would appreciate as good art might not appeal to you because beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Did you have any particular reason for choosing this location as your art space?

Not quite and yes. I looked at Ikoyi which happens to be the hub of art in the state and realized that it’s already densely populated. We tried to be on Awolowo Road but couldn’t get anything so we thought why don’t we go and open up Oniru? And I think I like this place.

How has it been since you opened?

It’s been encouraging; it’s been good.

What keeps you interested in this line?

We always say that anything worth doing at all is worth doing well. When I ventured into the arts, it was just purely for survival. Apart from the fact that I grew up as a little child with the late Chief Z O Oloruntoba who happens to be from the Osogbo School; he was part of the Duro Ladipo group. He was my next-door neighbour in Ibadan and anytime UNICEF—they were always using his artworks for their cards and each time they were coming, he will put up a cultural troupe to entertain the UNICEF officials and I was always very interested. As a little child, I was quite vocal and always say I want to dance. I want to be in the dance troupe and I want to do it. I will carry the pot with fire and everything. When I come back from school, my immediate sister and I will go and sit in the studio and start painting with the older ones.

This was where we picked up interest in art. My immediate younger sister is an artist, by the way. She went to Camberwell College of Arts in London and it was also a result of her interaction with Chief Oloruntoba. One day Mama Nike [Okundaiye] visited him and she was an angel, so encouraging. I felt if this woman could be in this industry, I want to be there as well. Then I started looking up to her, and then the rest is history.

It’s been a beautiful journey so far. It’s been creative. It’s something that gives me a new meaning every day. I see things differently every day. I’ve had to interact with all manner of people; very pleasant, nasty, friendly, lovely, different people. And it’s been a beautiful story so far. I mean, if it’s not, I won’t be doing the same thing for the last 21 years of my life.

What are you doing as an individual, an institution to support upcoming artists to have access?

I say something, every artist has access. The issue is this. We can all activate WhatsApp on our phone, we can have data for as little as next to nothing. When we have the data, we would rather start streaming some movies or watching things that are irrelevant, that do not add up to us. It’s the same social media platform where you can find great content and platforms where these young artists can expose themselves.

Some people are using social media to their advantage and are making a lot of money. They are getting exposed every day, they are getting jobs. Social media can be used for something good and beneficial. So why don’t we do that? Why don’t the younger artists channel their energy and their mindset into doing something more positive than they do? For us, we’ll keep searching and looking for these young and upcoming artists. The ones that have their heads on their shoulder, know what they’re doing but require a platform to be exposed, we’ll do our best in managing them.

There’s so much to do. Apart from artists management, we’re also into the documentation of private collections. A lot of people have artworks but they can’t at a glance say this is what I have, this is where it is, this is the value of the work. We are also creating that platform for them so we can document collections. And it’s then easier for them to insure their works. When you have at a glance, the value of your work, that’s when you can insure. So, we’re doing art handling too. If you have artworks you want to ship anywhere around the world, you can bring them to us. We get the dirty job done for you.

Where do you see Art Pantheon in the next decade?

In fact, before the next decade I see Art Pantheon all over the world. Not just about having branches everywhere, but I see Art Pantheon bringing everybody into Nigeria and telling them Nigeria is the place. We want people to say whenever you are in Nigeria, make sure that you see Art Pantheon. We want to be in everybody’s face. We want to be in everybody’s home. We want our tag in everybody’s home. That’s our vision, and we’ll do it.