Let’s Talk Real Life- Nike Art Gallery

Nike Art Gallery tour will start in two minutes but before then let us award our ‘just talk but no action human’. The award goes to …In the last post of exploring Lagos, I promised to do a monthly visit to places in Lagos I was yet to visit which is a lot because I have not been anywhere. School work and exams ensured the plan was futile, this is me giving it another shot. I went to Nike Art Gallery (Nike Centre for Art and Culture)

It is painted white! What is better than that?

The significance of this Lagos tour is that it is very easy to fall in the ‘faraway future and enjoyment phase’ . What do I mean? It is very easy to say ‘I can’t wait to make money, go to Paris; the Louvre, Eiffel tower and all. The illusion that our present environment does not offer much whereas all we need to do is look and stop waiting for a particular period before we appreciate this beautiful present we have. So, I don’t have to wait till I have enough money to go to Paris, there are so many beautiful places to be in Lagos. With what I have now (which is not much anyway), I will enjoy this moment.

On my list of places to visit in Lagos, Nike Art Gallery was like the most achievable and my friend’s enthusiasm encouraged me to go. We got to the Gallery few minutes before 12pm. We went on a Sunday and it is open to visitors from 12pm on Sundays. It is totally free to view and appreciate talented individual’s self-expression which was absolutely beautiful.  Guess who we saw as we entered the gallery? Mrs Nike Davies Okundaye; she was so pleasant, welcomed us and asked for our University.

My friend and I were the first to get there, it was quite easy to navigate the gallery.

Does she not look familiar?

I must confess that I am not so much of an Art enthusiast but as a lover of beautiful things and creativity, I enjoy and appreciate the ingenuity of artists; what their mind and hand creates. I know you are asking why then go to Nike Art Gallery? You see, you were not paying attention. I said I love beautiful things.

We were told not to take pictures of the art work but could take pictures generally.  Honestly, that place is so beautiful and overwhelming. People are talented, trust me. While navigating the gallery, I imagined how I will buy pieces of art in future to beautify my house, I was already considering if it would fit into my house colour theme.

Does anyone read under this hot sun?

I am FEARLESS

The gallery is huge guys! We finished our tour through four floors totally occupied with breathtaking artworks.  On our way out, we probably found a ‘guide’ leading a family around different arts and explaining the significance of some pieces. I was astonished at the depth of some of the pieces, we might not really understand what the artist really expressed, it might take the artist to explain.   When we got there, we thought there would be something like a ‘guide’ but we did not find anyone, however we did not feel anything because we did not pay to view the art work. Different arts and art related stuff are sold there; adire, beads, art book, painting to anything art related you can think of.

I loved the artwork that  showed women from different cultures dancing. It won my heart immediately. If you are a lover of art, you need to be at Nike art gallery ASAP. You will connect and feel all the artish feels. I can start describing what I saw the way an enthusiast would; “omg! that oil on canvas had an acrylic feel with an abstract undertone”.  We spent approximately one hour in the gallery. I was surprised nobody searched us on our way out or anything, I am not campaigning for harassment but there are so many pieces there that someone might just steal one(they come in various sizes) or there are cameras around. It was way shorter than our trip to Lekki Conservation Center. I hope to visit more places in Lagos, be a tourist in my city.

Me trying to think of where to go next

Have you been to Nike Centre for art and culture? If yes, how did it go?