Collecting Art: A Handbook has been scheduled for public presentation on Friday, November 10, 2017 at the Wheatbaker, Lagos. The book, coauthored by Fabian Ajogwu, a senior advocate of Nigeria and professor of Corporate Governance at the Lagos Business School, and Jess Castellote, director at the Foundation of Contemporary and Modern Visual Arts (FCMVA), aims at offering the novice and experienced collector a better understanding and some practical advice on some of the main issues involved in the practice.
At a press briefing to announce the public presentation in Lagos, Thursday, the co-authors said besides collectors, the book will also be of use to many other players in the art world, including dealers, critics, scholars, journalists, and art enthusiasts.“The book is a product of friendships, discussions, disagreements and sharing of knowledge and shared values and passion in the field of art and collecting art,” said Ajogwu at the press briefing.
“The idea was to debrief some of these ideas into the form of a book that would help the discerning art collector in dealing with a number of things which he hadn’t previously thought of, guide the would-be collector in knowing what to look out for in art collection, and also the artist to understand what those who ultimately would buy or patronize their work look out for. We would be promoting a whole industry that has been there since time and will continue to be,” he said.
READ ALSO: Reflecting on swift growth of Ake Arts and Book Festival
Castellote, who is said to have done quite a lot to support and grow many of Nigeria’s young artists who otherwise may have remained undiscovered, said Collecting Art: A Handbook is not really a book about art but a book about a social practice that has already taken root in Nigeria, where there are already a significant number of art collectors.
“The book does not enter into aesthetic, formal aspects of art. We don’t discuss, we don’t suggest, we don’t give any idea on what to collect or the meaning of art or aesthetic issues. All we want to do is to help collectors and collectors-to-be to do it better,” he said.
Among other things, the eight-chapter book discusses such key issues as motivations and approaches to collecting art; development of an art collection; the process of buying art; and the legal framework within which art collecting operates with a view to acquainting collectors, artists and dealers with their rights and duties.
Other areas covered by the book include transfer of an art collection, particularly to estate planning; documentation and management of the collection to mitigate the risk of damage by environmental, physical, chemical or biological agents. It also provides a glossary of terms that collectors frequently come across.
Art collectors, stakeholders in the art world, gallery owners, auction houses, artists, and some members of the academia are expected at the public presentation, according to the organisers.
CHUKS OLUIGBO
