Most budding indigenous artists across Africa have little or nowhere to showcase their works and make a living from them: This is where GTBank steps in with Art635. Art is one of the four pillars of GTBank’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy and Art635 is the latest of the bank’s sustained efforts to promote African arts locally and internationally and drive the growth and development of the local art industry.

ART635 is a virtual gallery, pro­fessionally curated and is free and open to all artists in Africa to exhibit their work. Launched in Nigeria by GTBank, Art635 aims to further its support or African arts by helping Af­rican artworks become not just more visible and appreciated, but also to turn them into a much more profit­able and commercially viable venture for indigenous artists. It is a foremost online repository of African artworks and is set to serve as a leading plat­form for the promotion of indigenous artists across the continent.

The gallery is set to drastically ex­pand the exposure of artists, provide an enabling platform for the mar­keting of their works and serve as a much needed motivation for the further development of their artistic skills and talents. This falls in line with the Bank’s initiative to go be­yond the traditional understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility as corporate philanthropy by interven­ing in economic sectors, to strength­en small businesses through capacity building initiatives that serve to boost their expertise, exposure and business growth.

GTBank has consistently played a leading role in Africa’s banking industry. The Bank is regarded by industry watchers as one of the best run financial institutions across its subsidiary countries and serves as a role model within the financial service industry due to its bias for world class corporate governance standards, excellent service quality and innovation.

Mr Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, said; “At GTBank we see art as an avenue for unlocking people’s creative potential and by creating ART635 we aim to expand the opportunities for art education as well as broaden the reach and viewership of the works of indigenous artists. Although African art goes back several centuries, the art industry in the continent is still young and largely untapped and we hope that with ART635 we can drive its evolution into a lucrative and vibrant economic sector.”