Customs export regulations, ignorance impeding growth of art sector- Craftsman

An art merchant and craftsman, Isah Lawan, has urged the Nigeria Customs Service to revise its regulations regarding importing locally crafted artworks by collectors and expatriates.

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Mr Lawan made the call during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to the craftsman, who plies his trade at the Eko Hotel and Suites Art and Crafts Centre, many collectors and expatriates are excited about Nigerian artworks.

“When we have about 40 to 50 Europeans that come to the market, you can say about 30 would like to buy artwork, and they help us promote it,” he said.

However, he said that despite its appeal, the industry was being significantly hampered by these unnecessary restrictions, a situation that should concern all stakeholders in the art industry.

He said the most significant challenge confronting the industry was the difficulty of exporting art due to specific Customs regulations.

Ignorance

According to the craftsman, who has been in the business for about 40 years, collectors often experience challenges when taking their collections home, mainly at airports and seaports, where Customs officials inspect and sometimes mislabel the artworks, leading to additional costs and delays.

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“I don’t know whether their boys don’t know the difference between modern artworks and antiquities. They all term it antiquity simply because they want to get something from them.

“When you buy something for N5,000, for example, they will challenge you to pay N50,000 while you take it out. So, this provokes them, and they just throw it away; some bring it back to the market,” he said.

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Mr Lawan decried the trend, adding that it negatively impacted businesses and preserved Nigeria’s artistic legacy.

He recommended that the customs officials be trained on the difference between contemporary and antique art.

“An antique has been used for the past 60 years, and all those from the olden days are antiquities. You can’t get the antiquities, only the copies, and you would have to go to the museum where they will give you a paper stating it’s not an antiquity,” he explained.

(NAN)