Through His Collection of African Art, Collector Tunji Akintokun Champions Emerging and Overlooked Creatives
Modern and Contemporary African Art collector Akintokun shares how his collection offers him a way of learning about his own heritage, but also provides an opportunity to support arts initiatives through the Ilesha Charitable Trust
- By Lucy Scovell
- Collector Interview
When businessman, collector, and philanthropist Tunji Akintokun was an engineering student, his mentor gave him five key pieces of advice. One was to learn about and collect art. “He said that art would always outdo the stock market,” he says with a laugh. “But he also told me to focus on a particular area and develop a deep understanding about it.”
And so began the weekly ritual of visiting exhibitions and galleries across London to pinpoint his area of interest. “I realized very early on that I liked Surrealism,” he says, adding that Salvador Dalí is still his favorite artist. “But I was still a student and realized that I was not going to be able to acquire a dream work by him anytime soon.” He continued looking and before long happened to come across an abstract work with Surrealist elements by a contemporary African artist that instantly captivated him. “It was a lightbulb moment,” he says. “I decided then and there to focus my research on modern and contemporary African art.”
Tunji Akintokun in front of Tribal Marks Series III #13 by Babajide Olatunji. Photo: Alixe Lay.
His first notable purchase comprised two portraits from a series of three by the Nigerian artist Gbenga Offo. “They are very colorful and vibrant, but the figures have large, elongated eyes that look quite sad,” he says of Man and Woman, both painted in 2000. “I lost both my parents early—my father at two and my mother at 11—so they reminded me of them in a way.” In the 30 years since then, Akintokun has significantly expanded his collection, acquiring works by both established and emerging modern and contemporary African artists, among them Yinka Shonibare, Peter Odeh, and Victor Ekpuk.
“Collecting African art has been a great way of learning more about my Nigerian heritage and the history of the continent,” he says. It has also offered him the opportunity to champion emerging and overlooked creatives from across the region. “A lot of my life has been dedicated to mentoring and providing a platform for those who do not necessarily have a voice,” he says. “I am passionate about supporting the wider art ecosystem and making sure that it works for Black artists, curators, gallerists, and collectors.”
Paintings by Yinka Shonibare, Lola Betiku, and Joshua Nmesirionye above small sculptures and vases by unknown artists collected locally across Africa. Photo: Alixe Lay.
Today, Akintokun channels his passion through the Ilesha Charitable Trust, his private family trust that supports science, technology, arts, sports, and diversity initiatives as well as deserving individuals through scholarships, grants, and bursaries. When it comes to the arts, the trust has sponsored exhibitions, partnered with creative organizations such as the Black arts agency Disrupt Space, and provided development grants to emerging artists. Among the recent recipients is the Moroccan-Italian painter Agathe Silvagni. “Our grants enabled her to get a beautiful collection together, which she later presented in a London gallery,” he says proudly. “She has since gone on to pursue her passion for painting.”
For Akintokun, providing ongoing support to emerging artists is one of the greatest privileges of being a collector. Another is connecting with them on a personal level. “It has been so rewarding building relationships with many of the artists I collect and seeing their work evolve over time,” he says. Other rising stars he supports and is keen to spotlight are Raymond Fuyana, Babajide Olatunji, and Shannon Bono. “I have been a real cheerleader of Bono’s work since she graduated,” he says. “I am proud that our support has really helped raise her public profile.”
Untitled by Gbenga Offo. Photo: Alixe Lay.
Silence by Raymond Fuyana installed above a group of sculptures purchased at local markets in Kenya and Nigeria. Photo: Alixe Lay.
As Akintokun’s collection grew and increased in value, he looked for ways to leverage its social and financial potential. Transferring ownership of the collection to the trust was a way of doing just that. “It means that my children will be able to sell works from the collection if they need to fund the trust’s activities, not just with artists but also with athletes, students, and social enterprises,” he explains. “I have always wanted the trust to continue its work and be able to support itself after I am gone.”
Akintokun’s passion for driving change is palpable. His collecting aspirations are equally ambitious. “A dream of mine is to own at least one piece of work from every country in Africa that really defines that country or tells a significant part of its history by the best artists we are able to acquire,” he says. On his wish list are the Nigerian painter and sculptor Ben Enwonwu and the American artist Kehinde Wiley, best known for his highly naturalistic portraits exploring Black vulnerability. “I wish I had bought Kehinde’s work about six or seven years ago when I was first offered it as it has now gone through the roof,” he says. “We joked about it when we met last year in Lagos.” While he remains aware of the investment potential of art collecting, it does not drive his decision making. “Despite that early mentoring advice, I have never really done that,” he says. “I buy what I like and what resonates.”
A Reflection of You by Shannon Bono. Photo: Alixe Lay.
He also has ambitions of establishing a permanent public home for the collection where he could display all the works at once. In the meantime, he is doing the next best thing: creating a publication on the collection which will also be available in digital form. He hopes it will serve as “a definitive catalog that captures the collection’s stories and history.”
For Akintokun, research is a key part of a collector’s remit. “As in any market, where there is money to be made there is also exploitation that can happen,” he says. “It is important to digitally document the stories and provenance of modern and contemporary African artworks, which have historically been less well archived than Western works, so that they can be authenticated, located, exhibited, and easily accessed or studied in the future.”
He is equally committed to introducing new audiences to African art. “So many young people say to me that they do not know where to start,” he says. “But you do not need to know where to start, you just need to know what you love.” Scouring art fairs, he says, is a great way of fine-tuning your eye. To this end, he often invites young collectors or art enthusiasts to attend fairs with him so he can introduce them to galleries he knows and to artists he likes. “I am a big fan of networks and of making connections,” he says. “I see myself now as someone who can help young people kick start their collecting journey.”
Presented in partnership with AXA XL, TEFAF’s Collecting with Intent series investigates the philosophies behind private collections, exploring how collectors have shaped their collections, developed their interests and connoisseurship, and how their collections present opportunities to contribute to philanthropic endeavors within and beyond the art world.
