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Nero Asibelua Foundation donates book on art to Institutions

Source: Vanguard, 09.06.2018

Nero Asibelua Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has donated books to 100 universities in Nigeria that have an arts department.

The book entitled ‘Collecting Art: A handbook’ was co-authored by Fabian Ajogwu SAN, Principal Partner at Kenna Partners, and renowned art collector Jess Castellote.  Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Nero Asibelua in his welcome remark said: ‘We are donating knowledge to all the universities, polytechnics, colleges of education that have a department of arts. I have taken the arts very seriously but it is unfortunate in this climate that most people are not educated to know the different types of art. In art, it is posterity that counts. The Foundation has a passion for the arts and wants to encourage people and artists, which is why we took particular interest in this book because we want to extend knowledge.”

Nero Asibelua spoke on love for the arts and said “My father gave me a piece of the late Ben Enwonwu’s artwork some decades ago and had the desire to sell the artwork for N600,000, but a buyer told me, he was going to pay N700,000. I gladly accepted it and sold it to the man. To my surprise, the man, two days later sold that same artwork for N3m. I was naïve at that time and didn’t know the value of the artwork with me and today, I don’t want people to make the same mistake that I did, that’s why am donating these books”.

The Principal Partner of Kenna Partners Law Firm, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu SAN, and co-author said; “We should develop the human mind and create a better society on how we can help others. There is a big practice between the practice of any profession and the business of that profession. If you don’t take the true benefit of your work, someone else will take the real benefit of your work. A lot of artists have poor intellectual property of their works; you need to learn the rudiments and make good use of your work to your benefit.” Ajogwu further stated, “Collecting Art: A handbook, is essentially a work that my co-author Jess Castellote and I put out to provide knowledge to everyone; artists, collectors, gallery owners and everyone who is connected with the arts to understand the intricacies of protection of artistes’ intellectual property rights, insurance, sales and resale of proprietary rights amongst others”. Jess Castellote in his remarks said, “It is true that collectors play an important role in the arts industry. Our objective is to help people know the practice of collecting art which is growing. There are various types of collectors and we want them to do what they know how to do better. It talks about documentation, strategy, relationship with galleries, storage, insurance and all the good things that make a good collector.”

Notable personalities in the art sector that were at the launch include Prof. J.P. Clark and his wife Prof Ebun Clark, Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, Dean, School of Art, Design and Printing, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Dr. Kunle Filani, former Provost, College of Education, Akoka, Olu Ajayi, and others.