About 12 years ago, Lasmara Art Consultancy, an independent art consultancy specialising in contemporary African art, was launched in London. Since then, it has expanded to Nigeria and has been promoting Nigerian and African art and connecting artists to the global art market.
In this interview, Hana Omilani, founder and director, Lasmara, who cut her teeth at Christie’s, famous British art auction house, speaks to Obinna Emelike on the upcoming Impart Artists Fair, a new initiative of the art consultancy firm among other related issues.
What is Lasmara all about?
Lasmara Art Consultancy has been on for 12 years now. We started in London but launched in Nigeria three years ago.
We are an independent African art consultancy, promoting contemporary African art. We have been working with different institutions, galleries, museums, collectors and artists.
But in the past year and a half, we have been concentrating on our new initiative called Impart. Impart is a platform designed to promote African art, and the artists, as well as, to raise the value of African art. It is an umbrella with different arms. We are launching the new initiative with Impart Artists Fair, which is one of the different initiatives under this platform. It is an art fair and a veritable platform to promote African artists within and outside the continent.
What are the details of the fair?
It is going to be a three-day event, and the maiden edition will hold from October 25-27, 2019, at Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, Lagos.
So, from Friday to Sunday, we want people from everywhere, be it seasoned collectors, first-time buyers, or the general public to come and experience an interactive and immersive world. When you come, you will get to see paintings, sculptors, or your very well-known media. You will be thrilled with what technology can do at the fair, especially with your phone.
We are going to have a live streaming of the fair so that people outside the country can join us. If you cannot make it to the fair physically, you can connect through the live stream.
The fair has many interesting activities. In the post event, we have workshops planed, key sessions planed with the artists and the sessions are meant to work with the artists to raise their portfolio and promote them.
Why the art fair?
Having observed this market for a while now, we felt that artists in Africa, especially in Nigeria, really take care of all the three pillars of the artist’s career, which are the production, the marketing and the sales. The reality is that most African artists will produce themselves; they market using social media and then sell directly to buyers. So, collectors in Africa buy most of their works directly from the artists, it is a smaller number that buy through galleries. So, we thought of creating an open platform where these two can connect without having to do business individually. Usually, every artist sends out a message or nice images on their social media and when you see the images, you contact them to find out more.
So, we thought of a platform where artists can exhibit themselves, and where they will not be paying for the exhibition boots because we cannot be talking about promoting African art if you are going to have fees that artists cannot afford. At Impart Artists Fair, all that the artists need is to commit themselves to participation at the fair; no boot cost, bring your artworks, and we will do our best to promote the works and bring the audience (buyers) the artists need for sales, which is one aspect, and for exposure, which is another aspect.
For exposure, we want people to come, especially those that have never seen artwork live. We want people to come and experience art the way they have never done before; in a more relaxed atmosphere. At the fair, we want visitors to feel free to talk to the artists, while the artists share with the viewers more on what the works mean, their inspirations, among others. Hopefully, there will be sales for the artists because this is what they live off.
The interactions at the fair will help the artists, as well as, both feedback and inspiration for more works.
How many artists are you expecting at the fair?
Over 300 artists are exhibiting, but there will be more from many countries. We may even leave out some. The countries include; Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, among others. There will be hundreds of artworks and even more artworks after the fair. All works will be available for sale and the prices are affordable because we cannot be talking about democratizing artworks and be talking about only the highest price tags. We have to make art accessible to all. We have to have a price range that is accessible for the first time buyer, as well as, the high net worth individuals that are ready to spend big money on art. So, you will not be intimidated by the price when you come to the fair. This is why we have emerging artists.
What are other activities at the fair?
We have virtual reality, workshops and panels, which are dedicated to art and technology. In the workshops and panels, we will have people from the tech sector who will be talking about the influence of art and the creative side and how it merges with technology.
We have tech hubs that will add to the experience. So, you will find some women who are in these fields, women in art and technology that will talk about their experiences. So, it is not all about the high-level topic such as investment in art. We are bringing it down a bit; what are the challenges of women who are trying to pursue careers in the arts? The very realistic topics for us are those that affect women in the creative industry.
Why the theme, ‘Art Meet Technology’?
We believe that to really put African art on a global scale, we have to use the tools we have as Africans here and now. Also, to be part of the global picture, the tool we have now is technology. We are a country that has bypassed landlines. People are connected here no matter what social background; you are online, you are connected and you do no longer have to be physically present in a place to be part of somewhere. To be part of the African art, we have to use technology to make everybody feel part of it and that is the way to promote it. The more we show people African artists and art, the more we will get the exposure that we need.
Are the artworks insured?
Thanks to Axa Mansard for this particular exhibition. All our works are insured by Axa Mansard. It would have been impossible for us to cover the cost of hundreds of works at such high value put together. It would not be possible without an insurance cover in that sense of support. Insurance cover has been one of the few questions the artists have asked us before sending their works. It shows that they are aware of trends.
Is the fair not a threat to galleries?
Local galleries may not be happy, but I do not see the reason for not being happy because this platform is open to professionals, to buyers and to first-time visitors. We are saying to people that in order to promote African art we have to put them on a global scale.
We are doing so through technology. Apart from that, we are inviting galleries from everywhere, especially outside the country to come and see what African artists have to offer because we are here to assist them and to sign them up to other galleries.
If you are a gallery that is doing your job, you should be happy. We are doing all the actual sourcing, the field work and you can come and we can help the artist be on that platform and ready for you.
Again, as a gallery, you should visit the fair because it is a scouting ground for you. What else does a gallery want? If you are a gallerist based somewhere in Sweden, but hears about African art boom and want a piece of that, yet you do not know where to start, which country to go, and how to get to the artists, Impart Artists Fair is where you need to be. Part of our artists’ promotion is to help artists who do not have online presence to get onboard, bring them out of the wood, assist them, make sure that the contract is in their best interest and that is what the fair is all about.
If a gallery wants to sign an artist, that is fine. All they need do is to talk to us. We have more than hundreds of artists we can give you and then you are helping us to promote African art and raising value of it and the artists. It is not just the galleries, it is also for institutions and museums to come and see what we have.
In your view, what are the reasons to visit the fair?
There are many reasons to be at the fair. If you have never seen any artwork live, come for the experience, you will be able to do interactive immersive experiences, you can use your phone to look at art in a relaxed manner. If you are a collector, come and see fresh works, you will see works that you have never seen before. If you are a gallery or an institution, come and see what we have to offer in Africa. You can come for many reasons but at the end of the day, come for nice experience.
