New Telegraph

Quintessence hosts Cultural Weekend on repositioning arts, tourism

Leading art gallery in Nigeria, and indeed, Africa, Quintessence is set to hold the maiden edition of its Cultural Weekend, a three-day activity on arts, culture and tourism. The event, which will hold this weekend – Friday 27th to Sunday 29th, November – at The Quintessence, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, will feature series of lectures, book reading, film screening, art exhibition, theatrical performances and screening of “Hidden Treasures”, a series of short films on the Nigerian Masters – Kolade Oshinowo, Yusuf Grillo, David Dale, Demas Nwoko. Announcing the event at a press conference, Mr. Oni-Okpaku, who is the Chief Executive Officer, Quintessence Arts Gallery, said the event will also focus on how the arts and cultural tourism can spur economic development in Lagos, Nigeria, adding that it will be an annual event.

“As a pioneer in advocating for Nigerian arts, crafts and culture, Quintessence is proud to bring you its first annual Cultural Weekend. This year we bring together the key stakeholders to champion ideas on How the Arts & Cultural Tourism Can Spur Economic Development in Lagos, Nigeria,” he said. He noted that art, culture and tourism are capable of boosting the economy of any country, adding that Nigeria is yet to identify many potential embedded in tourism which is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. “Tourism sector should be revamped because it has the potential to attract substantial foreign exchange earnings.

Nigeria is rich with tourism potentials. “That is why we initiated a three-day cultural weekend to bring together key stakeholders to champion ideas on how the art and cultural tourism can spur economic development in Lagos and Nigeria,” he said.

Special guests and speakers include: Speaker, Federal House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lagos State, Uzamat Akingbile-Yusuf; CEO, Guarantee Trust Bank Plc, Segun Agbaje; Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Runsewe; Special Adviser, Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lagos State, Solomon Saanu Bonu; Evelyn Oputu, former Managing Director, Bank of Industry.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo- Olu will declare the Cultural Weekend open this Friday, with a keynote titled: ‘Government Investments that will drive the Arts, Culture & Tourism Sector’. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, will deliver a keynote on ‘Post Covid-19 Initiatives Committee for the Creative Industry’; while the focus of the presentation by the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lagos State, Uzamat Akingbile-Yusuf, is on ‘Empowering the Youth through the Arts and Cultural Tourism’.

The presentations also include a case study on ‘How GTbank supports the Arts and Culture through its investments’. The event continues on Saturday with a Keynote on ‘Protecting the Arts and Culture’, which will be delivered by the Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Runsewe. Other activities include Artists workshop (for kids and adults) by Alimi Adewale and Adeola Balogun and book reading: “The Danfo Driver in All of Us” by Niran Adedokun.

Read Previous

Girls dominate UBA Foundation’s essay competition

Read Next

‘Damsel of the ivory tower’ and other poems

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *