NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

The National Gallery of Art, NGA, was established as a parastatal by Decree No. 86, 1993 and the 2004 (Amendment Act). This was in fulfillment of the provisions of Nigeria’s Cultural Policy launched in 1988 in accordance with the recommendations of the committee of patrons of the World Decade for Cultural Development (WDCD) approved by UNESCO. This decision was later reaffirmed by the report of the Vision 2010 Committee to which the National Gallery of Art presented a memorandum in 1997 and the Ahmed Joda Panel in 2000. 

FUNCTIONS

• Acquiring and collecting Nigerian works of art;
• Organizing permanent and temporary exhibitions;
• Organizing competitions and talent hunts in fine and applied art;
• Receiving donations and endowments to support the National Collection of Works of art;
• Sponsoring and encouraging research into all aspects of arts;
• Organizing workshops, lectures, seminars and conferences on the theory, practice and appreciation of arts;
• Establishing and maintaining a Documentation Centre on Arts and Artists;
• Promoting excellence in the theory and practice of art through the award of grants to artists and art scholars.

 ACTUALISING THE MANDATE

Over the years, NGA has been carrying out the above mandate creditably. From just one office in Lagos at inception in 1993, it has presence today in 25 states of the federation thereby bringing visual arts closer to the grassroots. The dream is to have NGA in all the 36 states and the FCT as enshrined in the Act establishing it. More importantly, NGA has created core programmes geared towards not only the promotion of visual arts but empowering artists