The Chief Executive Officer Arteasy Nigeria, Mr Dubby Awurumibe has said he makes some art materials such as sketch pad cheaper for Nigerian artists by producing them locally.
He said: “There are expensive art materials and there are also cheaper ones that can serve the same purpose. And that is where I come in. I will give you larger varieties of art materials. I produce sketch pads locally and it is cheaper because there is no duty payment on it. Sketch pad is stressful to produce here in Nigeria, which is why a lot of people prefer to import them.”
He spoke at the opening of the award-winning company’s first offline art material store in Surulere, Lagos.
The offline and online store, which is integrated sells everything that meets the needs of painters, sculptors, knitters and art and crafts enthusiasts. The new venture is hoping to transform the creative landscape to the benefit of artists.
According to Awurumibe, there are plans to expand to Enugu, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ife in no distant time. He disclosed that the interest to open a physical store was born out of frequent requests from its customers who believe in seeing a product before purchase.
He said: “We have been running an online store for the past five years and we have had constant requests for a physical space and most Nigerians would tell you if I can’t see it, I’m not buying. They want a place where they can come and experience the art materials themselves and I was tired of stocking up in my house.
“What I was doing then was when you ordered online, I shipped it to you. Everything art material is here, spray paint, brushes, acrylic, canvass, spray paint. We were the first online art store, we won an award for the Most Outstanding Marketplace Company 2021 in Nigeria by Techpoint Award.”
He added that the company, which started in 2015 online was having its offline store which is embedded into the online store for the first time.
“Everything you are seeing here is in the online store. So, you can order online and come here and pick up. I have a large variety of products; I have brands that you won’t see anywhere. And I’ll say that our products are actually inexpensive, they are more affordable than what you see elsewhere.
”Our store ambience as you can see is cozy with murals on the wall unlike others with just shelves and materials. When you enter here you feel that you are in an art space,” he added.
He urged emerging artists to find their source and use anything to create art. “I am an artist and one of the biggest issues is access to art materials and I got tired of painting on canvases only to exhibit at the gallery when I know how hard it is to get art material and people like us, we are privileged to get these materials, how about the ones that can’t get these materials.
“I used to go to Jibowu every day to send items to Enugu, Abuja and I got tired. What I will tell is to find their source; they can use anything to create art. There are expensive art materials and there are also cheaper ones that can give you the same thing,” he said.