By Onyeka Ezike
Following the tremendous success of its inaugural edition, Soto Gallery, in partnership with Ecobank Nigeria Limited, African Finance Corporation, AFC, and main sponsor, Craneburg Construction, has held the second edition of the +234 Art Fair. The theme for this year’s edition is “Championing patronage in Nigeria art”, held from the 26th-31st March 2025, on Victoria Island, Lagos.
The theme, “Championing patronage in Nigeria art”, explores the transformative power of patronage in driving the growth and sustainability of Nigerian art. The fair offers a significant platform for young, unrepresented Nigerian artists, enabling them to showcase their work locally and internationally. This year’s edition gathered together many interesting and various art patrons and collectors who are quietly moving the industry forward.
Speaking at the event, founder of the +234 Art Fair, Mrs Tola Akerele, said the theme seeks to build a support system for artists, through mentorship, finance and exposure.
She said from this year’s theme, “patronage means support. We are looking at how we can support artists, and there are so many ways to do that. One of the ways to support them is by giving them space to showcase their works, and mentorship, while also helping them with finances. We are looking at different ideals. Because we have so many artists in Nigeria, we want to encourage them.
“You don’t have to be a curator…you can have a friend in the university who is still starting his art career, and introduce them to the Soto Gallery. We have the most amazing artists. We see Nigeria art being demanded globally. The quality of Nigerian artists is the best in Africa…. Since they are emerging artists, the prices are lower than your typical global exhibitions because they are young, but they are good. We had over 1000 applications for this fair, and we went through every single application and selected 160 artists that were the best in the country,” Akerele stated.
One major interesting segment of this year’s edition was the introduction of the Children’s Gallery. Different artworks were on display at the children’s gallery which drew the attention of different schools that brought pupils to envision arts, charting a promising career for the pupils through arts. The concept is to encourage the students on the importance of art in society.
The fair focuses on emerging artists drawn from different parts of Nigeria with four creative sections: Digital, Photography, 3D sculpture, 2D fine Arts and Traditional Artworks.
The Head of SME, Partnership and Collaboration, Ecobank Nigeria, Miss Omoboye Odu, said that Ecobank is a deliberate solution to solve the financial inclusion problem of Africa, but the bank has realised that problems are solved by creating a platform where SMEs can evolve from local players to global players. EcoBank provides them the support to showcase their artworks, by giving them voice through a unique space like this to create and exhibit artworks that can be marketed globally.
Odu said: “We do this by working with different SMEs and businesses across various sectors, and one of the strongest sectors we have identified is the creative sector. We have seen the success of Afrobeats, and Afro vibes, of Nollywood and now the art space.
“The art market is estimated at about $70 billion globally, with North America having the largest market share. We want to reposition the art industry to be a driving force in African arts and beyond, because we have the talent and the creative innovations to be more than North America.
“This is where the bank comes in and we have provided a platform by working with people in the art space to give them that vocal voice and that access to financial acumen in this large market.
“Soto Gallery is a partnership we started last year with the first edition of +234 Arts Fair, and we have realized that we can impact young artists and galleries across Nigeria through this partnership. We thank Soto for this event and look forward to a future with them that is equally as successful.”
Also speaking, the founder of the Children Arts Gallery, Mr. Segun Oni, said the gallery is dedicated to children and was founded in September 2022. The idea was to have a platform where children can express themselves through arts and build confidence to use their talents and gifts to express themselves.
In the children gallery were 24 canvas paintings from different children. Among them was that of
Olujimi Oni, a 12 years old boy inspired to depict flags, symbols and crests. Others were different canvas painting depicting the beauty of art.
For some kids, they can sell it and it gives them the confidence that they can build a career out of art. All the artworks were made by the children, with a total of 250 pre-registered students from various schools around Lagos.
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