Art for leisure

While on a normal visit at Wheatbaker, the tranquility and exclusiveness of the places bear the charm.

You do not have to lodge in any of the 70 well-appointed guestrooms to experience the artistry in modern hospitality offering.

From the unique entrance foyer, the intimacy of the space speaks volume of attention to details with decorations and furnishings that further soften the mood, leaving visitors in a world of undisturbed leisure and indulgence. But one thing that readily draws the attention of the high net worth guests in the hotel is the deliberate effort at making the arts count, especially visual art.

With walls that are dotted with artworks that inspire and ignite immediate reactions from the viewers, the hotel is a delight of art connoisseurs and collectors alike.

While a guest is checking in or out, relishing on world-class menu, sipping best of wines and cocktails, or even lazing about on the soft bed, the eyes are often glued on beautiful artworks that entice the viewers further on a closer look to appreciate the creator’s autograph. But going by the many artworks on display and the frequency at which new works are introduced, regular guests are beginning to ask after the source of the creative works.

Well, the many breathtaking artworks are coming from a deliberate effort at making the hotel an art destination by using the hospitality platform to nurture and showcase the best of contemporary creativity at no extra cost to the guests. So far, it has been five years of amazing artistic conversations, experiences and most importantly, showcases at Wheatbaker.

Since October 2011, the boutique hotel managed by Legacy Group, a South African hotel management company, has hosted 16 visual art exhibitions that offered each artist between 8-12 weeks to showcase their works. During each of these 16 past exhibitions, guests have always seen and appreciated the creative ingenuity of the artists through their works on display as part of the spices the hotel offers in addition to its core hospitality offerings.

“In the intimacy of our space, we have donated our walls and hosted a wide range of artists from the very young up and coming to the seasoned masters allowing access to works which may have possibly been unseen by the general public”, Mosun Ogunbanjo, director of the hotel, explains.

But on the rationale for promoting the hotel as an art destination, Sandra Obiago, curator of all the 16 exhibitions at the hotels, says: “Through our art and hospitality focus, we have inspired other hotels in Lagos to embrace art as a viable means of bringing local and international visitors closer to the best of Nigerian art and culture”.

To enable the hotel live up to the dream of becoming an art destination, first, the hotel deliberately made its high-profile guests willing to see the arts, and secondly, it encouraged them to become art collectors by buying some of the artworks as souvenirs, especially during its yearly art auction sales at the hotel.

While it is needful to patronize the hotel on any visit, you can visit the Wheatbaker any day just to see the artworks or the opening of an exhibition to encounter the artists and ask all your questions. Just tell the guards at the entrance foyer that you are an art connoisseur (that is the password) and the door will open because there is one exhibition going one almost every month.