An interview with the founder of OYASAF
African art carries the memories, arguments and creative ambitions of many communities. Preserving that record requires more than collecting: it demands research, public education and thoughtful relationships with artists, scholars, museums and collectors. In this interview, Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon discusses why he established OYASAF and the role he sees for the foundation in strengthening African art.
OYASAF, the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation, holds an extensive collection of traditional, modern and contemporary Nigerian and African art. Its holdings include paintings, sculpture, photography and other creative practices, supported by programmes for scholars, artists, schools, museums and cultural organisations.
For Australian audiences, this work offers a chance to engage with African art beyond auction results or fashionable categories. Australia’s respected public museums, specialist galleries and collector networks can provide useful models for participation, provided that partnerships remain led by Nigerian artists and institutions.
The conversation covers collecting, criticism, cultural memory, education and ethical collecting. Shyllon also considers what Australian institutions can contribute, where cross-border collaborations can go wrong, and how individuals can support the development of a stronger African art sector.
A personal calling with national purpose
Why did you turn a personal interest in collecting into a public foundation? Art collecting can easily become private possession. For me, the responsibility was different: the works held information about Nigerian history, creativity and ambition that could not be separated from the country’s future. The collection needed scholarship, access and a public purpose beyond the walls of one family.
How does OYASAF balance preservation with access? A collection survives through careful cataloguing, conservation, loans and responsible stewardship. Its purpose becomes clearer when those activities lead to exhibitions, publications, school encounters and conversations with researchers. The aim is not to lock art away but to place it in reach of people seeking knowledge and inspiration.
Further information about the collection and foundation programmes is available through the OYASAF official website, where visitors can explore the organisation’s work across art, research and cultural engagement.
Keeping Nigerian art in public view
What does the OYASAF collection represent? It presents Nigerian and African creativity across historical periods and forms. Traditional works sit alongside modern and contemporary production, showing continuity as well as experimentation. Sculpture, photography and painting are treated as connected forms of cultural expression rather than isolated objects waiting for decorative display.
What is the collection’s most urgent need? Documentation must remain rigorous. Information about makers, materials, techniques, exhibition histories and changing ownership is essential, especially as markets and migration alter patterns of circulation. Digital records, specialist publications and well-designed exhibitions can ensure that these works remain legible even when physical access is limited.
Shyllon argues that collecting should also broaden the stories institutions tell. Recognising Nigerian makers within a broader African context creates room for local histories, individual biographies and workshop traditions to receive the attention they deserve.
Why criticism must grow with the art
Why is art criticism important to the foundation’s mission? Appreciation depends on informed looking. Criticism helps audiences understand why a work matters, how its maker approached materials and where it sits within a wider movement. It also creates an accountable public record of artistic achievement, neglect and institutional change.
How have newspapers contributed to that record? Nigerian newspapers have provided critics with a platform since independence, recording changing attitudes toward visual art and the cultural expectations placed upon artists. The Nigerian art criticism history shows how criticism developed alongside the country’s public life, carrying debates that might otherwise have remained informal or short-lived.
The lesson is that criticism should serve cultural memory rather than simple promotion. OYASAF supports essays, lectures and research that place artworks in context while allowing disagreement, including healthy criticism of the art market itself.
Lessons from Australian collections without false equivalence
What can Australian institutions offer African art? Australia has a mature network of public galleries, including the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, alongside active commercial galleries in places such as Paddington, Walsh Bay and central Melbourne. These institutions offer experience in collection care, interpretation, publishing and public programmes.
That experience must be shared without pretending the countries are identical. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art has transformed Australian collecting through emphases on cultural authority, community relationships and ethical protocols. Nigerian art requires similarly attentive engagement with its own makers, institutions and legal frameworks.
Australian cultural conversations can also appear unusually direct. People often open with “How are you going?”, while curators and collectors may prefer plain explanations over institutional language. This informality can be useful, but it should support rather than replace proper historical depth.
| Dimension | Nigerian and African context | Australian context |
|---|---|---|
| Public purpose | Preserve cultural memory and expand access to African art | Extend collection narratives and support cultural participation |
| Collection values | Recognition of artists, workshops and regional traditions | Strong emphasis on attribution, cultural authority and ethical stewardship |
| Engagement | School competitions, talks, publications and exhibitions | Museum learning, gallery programmes, residencies and teacher resources |
| Market route | Direct artist relationships, trusted dealers, auctions and institutional acquisitions | Galleries, auctions, artist studios, memberships and donor-supported acquisitions |
These differences are complementary rather than interchangeable. The strongest collaborations would allow Nigerian institutions and artists to shape interpretation, research priorities and outcomes.
Artists, schools and the next generation
Why are school competitions and educational programmes central to OYASAF? Young audiences need encounters with original art before it becomes fixed within a textbook category. Competitions, studio discussions and museum activities can reveal the physical decisions behind a painting or sculpture while helping pupils develop visual judgement. For artists, direct engagement with schools creates audiences that extend beyond the established gallery circuit.
What support do emerging artists and scholars need? Visibility matters, but visibility without fair compensation or sustained follow-up has limited value. Artists need studio time, research assistance, market access and opportunities to interpret their own work. Scholars need archives, documentation, travel and the freedom to pursue difficult questions without an immediate commercial agenda.
Australian museums can contribute expertise and audiences, yet Nigerian teachers, artists and cultural workers should remain central to programme design. Long-term exchanges with the Art Gallery of New South Wales or other institutions can be valuable when funding, credit and intellectual control are handled transparently.
A market built on trust and fair value
What does a healthy African art market require? It requires reliable information, lawful title, transparent relationships and prices that reflect the work’s cultural and artistic value. Buyers should know who made an object, where it came from and whether its ownership history contains unresolved claims. Dealers, museums and auction houses all share responsibility for preventing misleading simplification.
For Australian collectors interested in Nigerian and African art, practical habits can make a meaningful difference:
- Ask for the artist’s name, workshop, date, medium, dimensions and exhibition history.
- Verify provenance, legal ownership, export status and any relevant restitution concerns.
- Prefer direct artist relationships or dealers who disclose commissions and sourcing.
- Pay prices that support sustained production rather than treating artworks as isolated commodities.
- Fund scholarship, conservation, acquisitions and educational access alongside purchases.
- Credit artists, makers, assistants and cultural institutions in every catalogue entry.
These recommendations also reduce the risk of purchasing anonymous, poorly documented or legally uncertain objects. They encourage a market in which admiration is matched by accountability.
Keep the conversation moving
What does the foundation hope to achieve next? The ambition is an accessible body of knowledge: a stronger catalogue, more collaborative exhibitions, carefully documented school activity and research that reaches beyond Nigeria. Digital tools can connect dispersed collections and scholars, while physical programmes can preserve the encounter between audience and object.
How can the wider public participate? Begin by learning about the makers rather than searching only for a desirable category. Share responsible information, support exhibitions and school programmes, and encourage museums to include African artists in sustained educational and curatorial relationships. Visit OYASAF’s website, read its research and contact the foundation to learn about current collection, scholarly and community activities. Support OYASAF today by sharing its work with Australian collectors, educators and cultural leaders.