A day behind the scenes at OYASAF
A curator’s day at the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation rarely follows a single routine. The work moves between close looking, careful documentation, conversations with artists, research into Nigerian visual culture, and the practical demands of caring for a major art collection. Every activity contributes to a larger purpose: helping people encounter African art with curiosity, context, and respect.
At OYASAF, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and other works are part of a living body of knowledge. Traditional forms sit alongside modern and contemporary practices, creating opportunities to trace changing materials, ideas, histories, and identities. A curator must therefore think like a researcher, a caretaker, an educator, and a bridge between the artwork and its audience.
The day may begin quietly, but it is guided by constant attention. A shift in humidity, an artist’s new statement, a missing date in an archive, or a student’s unexpected question can change the priorities of the hours ahead.
Starting with the collection
The first task is often a review of the collection environment. Before meetings and research begin, a curator may walk through galleries, storage areas, and display spaces to check lighting, temperature, humidity, framing, mounts, and the condition of individual works. This routine protects objects that may be irreplaceable and helps identify small changes before they become serious conservation concerns.
The collection also demands intellectual care. A curator examines how an artwork is titled, dated, attributed, described, and positioned within a broader cultural history. Labels and records must be accurate without reducing complex Nigerian or African artistic practices to simplified explanations. The foundation’s collection and programmes provide a wider view of how art stewardship connects with education, research, and public engagement.
Close looking is central to this process. A work may reveal a technique, symbol, or material relationship that is not immediately visible in a photograph. Notes made during these observations can later support an exhibition, a school resource, a scholarly request, or a conversation with visitors.
Research behind every label
Curatorial research extends well beyond reading an artist’s biography. It can involve consulting exhibition catalogues, interviewing artists or their estates, comparing visual details, studying local histories, and checking information against reliable sources. In the context of Nigerian art, research may also require attention to regional traditions, language, religious influence, colonial encounters, migration, and the development of modern art institutions.
The curator’s writing must translate this research into language that serves different audiences. A scholar may need precise provenance and references, while a first-time visitor may need a clear explanation of why a material, image, or process matters. The challenge is to remain accessible without removing complexity or treating African art as a single, uniform category.
Digital work has become equally important. High-quality images, consistent metadata, and searchable records allow artworks to reach researchers and audiences beyond the physical foundation. OYASAF’s discussion of its digital archive project reflects this expanding responsibility: preserving information while making it available to people around the world.
From storage room to public view
Moving an artwork from storage into an exhibition involves a carefully coordinated chain of decisions. The curator considers the work’s condition, scale, visual relationships, lighting requirements, and relationship to the exhibition’s central idea. Registrars, conservators, technicians, educators, and designers each bring specialist knowledge to the process.
A curator may spend hours adjusting the distance between two sculptures or testing how a painting appears under different lighting conditions. These decisions can seem invisible once the gallery opens, yet they influence how visitors move, what they notice, and how they connect one artwork to another.
| Curatorial responsibility | Behind-the-scenes activity | Public result |
|---|---|---|
| Collection care | Checking condition, storage, and display conditions | Safer, better-preserved artworks |
| Research | Verifying dates, materials, histories, and artist information | More accurate interpretation |
| Exhibition planning | Selecting works and arranging visual relationships | A coherent visitor experience |
| Education | Developing talks, resources, and school activities | Wider understanding of African art |
| Digital access | Photographing, cataloguing, and publishing records | Global access to collection knowledge |
The final installation is therefore more than an arrangement of objects. It is an argument made through space. It proposes connections, invites comparison, and gives visitors several possible ways into the collection.
Conversations with artists and communities
Some of the most valuable curatorial knowledge comes through dialogue. Conversations with artists can clarify materials, intentions, working methods, and personal histories that are not visible in the finished object. These exchanges must be handled with sensitivity because an artist’s explanation can deepen interpretation without becoming the only acceptable way to understand the work.
Community knowledge matters as well. Traditional and contemporary artworks may carry meanings connected to place, ceremony, memory, family, or shared experience. Curators have a responsibility to avoid presenting cultural references as decorative details. They must ask who has the authority to explain a subject, which voices have been overlooked, and how interpretation can remain respectful.
This work often changes the curator’s own perspective. A planned exhibition may evolve after an artist points out a connection between works, or after research reveals that a familiar story has been told from only one viewpoint. Listening is therefore an active professional skill, as important as object handling or catalogue writing.
Building programmes beyond the gallery
Curating at OYASAF also involves creating ways for people to learn outside a conventional exhibition visit. A school competition, artist talk, guided tour, workshop, or research presentation can introduce audiences to visual culture at different levels. The curator helps shape the content, identify appropriate speakers, prepare materials, and ensure that the programme reflects the foundation’s educational mission.
For younger audiences, the emphasis may be on observation and discovery rather than specialist vocabulary. Students can be encouraged to discuss colour, texture, gesture, narrative, and emotion before they learn formal art-historical terms. Such encounters help demonstrate that Nigerian art belongs in everyday learning and public conversation, rather than being reserved for experts.
A well-designed programme also creates feedback. Questions from students may reveal gaps in an exhibition label, while comments from teachers may suggest new resources. Curatorial work develops through this exchange, linking the collection to schools, scholars, artists, museums, and cultural organisations.
Practices that protect meaning and access
The most effective routines combine precision with openness. They help a curator care for physical objects while also caring for the stories, identities, and relationships associated with them. A typical working day may include the following priorities:
- Record changes in artwork condition, location, and display requirements.
- Confirm artist information and provenance before publishing interpretation.
- Use clear language that welcomes newcomers without flattening complexity.
- Consult artists, communities, and specialists when cultural context requires it.
- Connect collection research with programmes for schools, scholars, and wider audiences.
These practices also support continuity. A curator’s notes may become part of an institutional record used years later by another researcher or exhibition team. Good documentation protects knowledge from disappearing when staff, technologies, or interpretations change.
The work can be demanding because it requires patience at every stage. A single catalogue entry may take hours to verify, and a successful public programme may depend on months of preparation. Yet each careful decision strengthens the relationship between the foundation, its collection, and the people who encounter it.
When the doors open
By the time visitors arrive, much of the curator’s labour has become nearly invisible. The room may look calm, the labels may appear concise, and the artworks may seem to speak for themselves. Behind that apparent simplicity are weeks of research, handling, planning, consultation, and revision.
A curator continues observing once the public enters. Which works draw people across the room? Where do visitors pause? What questions emerge during a tour? These responses can influence future displays and help the foundation understand how different audiences experience Nigerian and African art.
The day may end with updated records, follow-up emails, a conservation note, or plans for the next programme. The routine is unfinished in the best sense: every artwork can lead to another question, and every question can open a new path into the collection.
Explore OYASAF’s collection, artist stories, programmes, and digital resources to see how careful curatorial work makes Nigerian and African art more accessible. Support the foundation’s educational and cultural mission by sharing its resources, engaging with its initiatives, and encouraging the next generation to look closely.