KHALIL AKAR, DIRECTOR OF SIGNATURE AFRICAN ART GALLERY, MAYFAIR, LONDON

Khalil Akar (b.1992) is a Nigerian-Lebanese art director working at the Signature African Artgallery in London. Having been brought up in Lagos, he spent his formative years at his dad’sSignature art gallery studying and learning about art, both traditional and contemporary. Heinsisted on trying a new field at university to widen his horizon, and earned a Bachelors inCivil Engineering with Sustainability as well as a Masters in Project Management. After fivesuccessful years in the construction industry, he decided to return to the art world andsetup the Signature African Art gallery in London. We discuss the history of Signature from its founding in Lagos in 1992 to the opening of the London gallery in 2019 and how the pandemic and BLM has affected it.

intro and outro music

‘Baby, I Miss The Internet’ (Rama, Rama, Rama)

by TOT TAYLOR

is used by kind permission of the artist

©Tot Taylor/Songmatic Music (2020)

PRS/MCPS/PPL

The Art Business is a bi-weekly podcast dedicated to talking about both cultural and business aspects of the art world with some of its key players. It is hosted by Dr David Bellingham, Programme Director of the MA in Art Business at Sotheby‘s Institute of Art London.

• No. of episodes: 68
• Latest episode: 2025-05-16
• Arts Business Visual Arts

Where can you listen?