Castellote, a prolific art writer and promoter, noted that the virtual museum “is a pioneering activity that has special relevance as most of these works of art are kept in private individual and corporate collections and are not available to the general public and interested scholars.”
He disclosed that the museum is owned by PAU, but sponsored by the Art Exchange Limited. “In addition to funding the start-up costs, the sponsorship will also provide for sustaining and updating the museum.”
The Art Exchange is a company that has been established to increase the level of awareness of Nigerian art locally, and internationally. It will act as a reference point for in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian art market.
Our primary aim is to seek, identify and document works from our Contemporary and Modern class of Nigerian artists, bring them into known existence, and by so doing bring due recognition to the artists. These works will be compiled into a database on our website.
"…representatives of Pan African University, Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art, VMMNA and Art Exchange Limited comprising; DrChidiNwagu, Arch. Jess Castellote and Abimbola Phillips explained to Vanguard Arts the imperatives of building a sustainable and reliable online museum of Nigerian art to serve as a window to the world on the immense potentials of Nigerian art resources."
