NGA DG, Ivara Resumes, woos stakeholders

The newly appointed Director-General for National Gallery of Art (NGA), Mr. Ebeten Ivara, resumed Tuesday, September 1, 2020, with a promise to carry along stakeholders in charting a new course for the visual art sub-sector.

He said while the film and music sub-sectors have made tremendous progress, there appears a gap in visual art that must be filled for it to reach its potentials.

The new DG said: “We have to expand our focus and direction to do the things that are needed. It will be in conjunction with all the artists; all the people who specialise in that area. We will bring them together, put our heads together, and see the direction we have to move art too.”

According to him, there is an urgent need “to diversify our outlook and work together to get the local and international aspects” of the community. “There are artists in the villages, in small communities that you would not expect and nobody has exposed them. We have to create a forum for exposure and bring them to the limelight. From there, you can see the extent that it projects the NGA.”

Ivara, who has a natural skill for sketching, stated: “I can draw you as you are sitting down there though I am not a trained artist.”

While canvassing the cooperation of all and sundry for the task ahead, he said, “we have to do the best we can so that NGA will be promoted, and also, revenue will accrue to government from this source. I want to reach out with programmes and activities that will touch the grassroots. All the artists even at the local levels will be touched so that we form a formidable front to project the NGA.”

He also harped on the urgent need to build an edifice for NGA. “The Gallery of Art is very important. In fact, we have to think about building a gallery edifice; a house of arts where the works and creativity of those prominent persons in the field of art will be displayed and properly kept to attract tourists. Those are the things we have to look into.”

Ivara, a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Calabar, is a thoroughbred public servant. He started his career in Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, where he worked for 13 years in various cadres.

Thereafter, he took a lateral transfer to the Cross River Civil Service, specifically, the Department of Information, Governor’s Office where he was at various times: Chief Commercial Officer and Assistant Director.

He has later deployed the State Education Board and later the Ministry of Education before moving to the State Planning Commission, where he rose to the position of Director, Planning, Research, and Statistics on posting to the Ministry of Environment and also the Ministry of Works where he retired in 2017.