THE KUMASI-ACCRA AXIS AND CONTEMPORARY ART IN GHANA REBECCA M. NAGY, SUSAN E. COOKSEY & ALISSA JORDAN

pop-up exhibitions, and “Cornfields in Accra,” which occupied the other channels. entire three-story structure. The exhibition Until recent showed new work by KNUST art faculty, years, despite the inter- students and alumni working in installation national reputations of and performance art, video, photography, a handful of artists— sculpture, painting and experimental media. among them Ablade During our week in Accra, we also Glover, Atta Kwami and met with the directors of several non-profit Kwame Akoto— Ghana arts organizations that support and pro- was not known for a mote the work of contemporary Ghanaian vibrant contemporary art artists, including ANO, the Nubuke scene. Rather, scholarly Foundation and the Foundation for and popular attention Contemporary Art. We also made several Photo: was focused on the his- visits to two leading commercial galleries, Elisabeth Sutherland, Ghanaian performance artist toric traditions of Ghanaian art, including Artists Alliance Gallery and Gallery 1957, textiles such as kente and adinkra cloth, where we selected four works of art for In August 2015 we spent two metal casting, gold work, wood carving the Harn Museum of Art collection: a pen weeks conducting research and ceramics. Only in the last decade or and ink drawing by 1985 KNUST graduate on contemporary art in Ghana so has scholarly attention broadened to Kate Badoe, a painting by recent KNUST with support from a Faculty include research and publication on the graduate Jeremiah Quarshie, and two pho- Enhancement Opportunity Grant expanding contemporary art scene. The tographs printed on fabric by Ghanaian- through the UF Office of the creative energy and innovative approaches German artist Zohra Opoku. Along with Provost (Rebecca Nagy); Harn of contemporary Ghanaian artists have other acquisitions currently in progress, Museum of Art resources (Susan been fueled by a radical rethinking of the these works will be shown at the Harn in Cooksey); and the Center for undergraduate and MFA programs of the an upcoming exhibition of contemporary African Studies as well as the art department at KNUST. Inspired by the Ghanaian art. Criser Endowment at the Harn theory, practice and teaching of Professor, Finally, we spent a day at Accra’s Museum of Art (Alissa Jordan). several other faculty members have worked street art festival known as Chale Wote, Our goal was to understand the roles of with him to develop a curriculum based now in its sixth year. Along with thousands long-established and new art institutions on social engagement and intervention in of locals and visitors to the city we took as well as digital networks in the recent a range of environments in Kumasi and in art installations, performance art, dance emergence of a group of internation- Accra that they describe, with a nod to and music as well as stilt walkers, acrobats, ally connected contemporary artists. This French philosopher Michel Foucault, as street food and stalls selling goods of all expanding art scene is fueled by artists edu- “archaeology of the city.” kinds. Chale Wote exemplifies the commit- cated at the Kwame Nkrumah University The quality of the work pro- ment of the Ghanaian art community to of Science and Technology (KNUST) in duced by KNUST students in a range of engage local audiences in the experience of Kumasi, many of whom subsequently media and forms of practice, including contemporary art while also drawing the live and work in Ghana’s major urban performance and installation, has increas- attention of the wider art world to the ex- center of Accra. By interviewing faculty, ingly attracted the attention of scholars, citing developments taking place in Accra, arts administrators, artists, collectors, and curators, collectors and dealers in Africa, Kumasi and beyond as Ghanaian artists dealers in both cities we gained insight into Europe and America. We spent several take their rightful place on the international the emergence and development of the days in Kumasi interviewing Dean Edwin stage. contemporary Ghanaian art scene in virtual Bodjawah and faculty members, Kwaku and physical spaces. We were able to study Boafo Kissiedu, George Ampratwum and Rebecca M. Nagy is director of the Samuel P. Harn a community of artists as they are defining Dorothy Amenuke as well as some of Museum of Art. Susan E. Cooksey is curator of Africa themselves and their work via new forms their outstanding advanced undergraduate art at the Harn Museum of Art. Alissa Jordan is a PhD of networking, collaboration and free ex- and MFA students. In Accra, we made candidate in anthropology at the University of Florida. change of ideas though “talk parties,” alter- repeated visits to the Museum of Science native radio, social media, street art festivals, and Technology to examine the exhibition

52 CENTER FOR AFRICAN STUDIES Research Report 2016–2017