Tour The Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art

This artwork is the first visitors see when entering the museum. Titled Wota na wota, it was created and donated by the artist Lanre Tejuoso in 2019. It is a comment on the environment. It's made of discarded sachets of water, snacks and chewing sticks dipped in dye.

The museum galleries show a diverse art collection that cuts across cultures, artists, movements and media. The first gallery is devoted to the exhibition titled Making Matter: Materiality and Technology in Nigerian Art. It showcases the diversity of materials in Nigerian art and celebrates the ingenuity and talent of the nation’s artists through time.

This almost 3-meter high sculpture depicting a giant is one of YSMA visitors’ favourites. It is titled Dike which means 'hero'. It was created by artist George Edozie who is renowned for executing massive sculptures using ripped, discarded clothing materials.  

This artwork by artist Kainebi Osahenye is made of discarded soda and alcohol cans nailed on plywood boards. It's a comment on the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. 

The historic bronze sculptures of Benin represent emblems of the great kingdom's culture, history and craftsmanship. Their production technique, the lost-wax casting process, is exceptional.

On the first floor of the museum, the exhibition Mirroring Man: Society and Politics in Nigerian Art showcases women portraits and sculptures by pioneering artists. Here you see examples by artist Abayomi Barber, Akinola Lasekan, Aina Onabolu and Ben Osawe.

This section comprises of paintings and bronze sculptures by Africa’s renowned artist, Ben Enwonwu. It features one of Enwonwu's famous portraits titled Ogbanje  (a child predestined to die) which was painted in 1967, the year of Nigeria's civil war. The portrait is a comment on the Igbo traditional belief on the reincarnation of children. 

Artist Uche Okeke challenged the artistic principles of colonial art taught at the Nigerian College of Art, Science and Technology (now Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria). He also conceptualised the philosophy known as “Natural Synthesis” which became the artistic foundation of the Zaria Art Society in the 1960s. 

The Zaria Art Movement was crucial in the revitalization of local art traditions that had eroded due to colonialism and also birthing the cultural definition of the new Nigerian state.  

Artist Victor Ekpuk paintings and drawings reflect on the ancient, indigenous African philosophy of Nsibidi. Nsibidi is an Ekoid word that refers to a system of calligraphic notations and symbols developed centuries ago in southern Nigeria for communication. It comprises of pictograms, logograms or syllabograms and were used on wall designs, calabashes, metals and tattoos. 

An entire corner is dedicated to artist Bruce Onobrakpeya, whose signature art features works in both print and various etching techniques. By the left is the 14 Stations of the Cross, which is a collection of prints portraying the passion of Christ in Nigeria.

This section is dedicated to members of the Oshogbo School of Art. The movement was created in the 1960s and was crucial in the revival of the artistic traditions and culture of the Yoruba people. The section features works by notable artists from the school including Nike Davies-Okundaye, Muraino Oyelami, Twins Seven-seven, Rufus Ogundele and founder, Susanne Wenger.