Meet Our Artist Coordinators, Aminu Larry and Musah
I’ve told you plenty about our program for Nima: Muhinmanchi Art, but not so much about our artist coordinators, Yussif Aminu Larry and Musah Swallah. As we work behind-the-scenes on organizing the second annual Nima: Muhinmanchi Art, let me tell you a bit about our coordinators and their impressive work.
They are two of the most dedicated, generous, and proactive people I have ever met…from their tireless work arranging for supplies, running workshops, and building a team; to always accompanying me on the twenty minute walk to the tro-tro car home; to insisting on buying my mango when I was in their home turf…to their current efforts at planning for our next program amidst all their school and professional work. Which is not even to mention their beautiful and innovative artwork. Read on, check out the Facebook album, and LIKE Nima: Muhinmanchi Art, facebook.com/nimaart.gh. Tell us what you think on the Facebook page!
- Nima: Muhinmanchi Art Coordinators Musah Swallah and Yussif Larry Aminu
- Traders – Musah Swallah (acrylic on canvas 36×32 in. 2009)
MEET OUR ARTIST COORDINATOR YUSSIF AMINU LARRY.
Aminu Larry’s paintings of everyday scenes call attention to the singularness and beauty of the ordinary moment. With subjects as simple as a young girl taking respite over a basket, he draws upon his particular locale as he reflects a universal humanity. Painting in a realist and semi-abstract style, he has a skill for detail and an eye for composition.
Aminu Larry has exhibited in locations in Accra and beyond and worked on murals throughout Ghana, including…
-the Chale Wote street art festival in Jamestown, Accra, with Accra[dot]Alt and the FCA this July
-Koforidua Jackson Park in the Eastern region with the FCA in 2011
-the Youth Institute of Science & Technology, Ejisu-Kumasi this October, with Akosua Boateng from Boogie Down Nima
and more.
Aminu Larry wears many hats. In addition to his vocation as an artist, he works with the MP and assemblymen in Nima on projects for development and sanitation. He targets his community work and his artwork to the youth of Nima, passing on the wisdom he learned from his own teachers, Mozzay and Shamoun. In the meantime, he is in school for business administration and marketing at the Islamic University College, Ghana.
- Yussif Larry Aminu
- Larry Aminu’s work
MEET OUR ARTIST COORDINATOR MUSAH SWALLAH.
Musah captures the sights and sounds of daily life by incorporating the materials he finds in it into his work. He mixes bottle caps, clothing, car treads, and nails with acrylic painted on canvas and wood. He depicts the beauty and vibrancy in the movements of the everyday, expressing a pride and joy in the life around him.
Musah is only 25, but he is already making his name known. He has…
-exhibited 11 times in the past decade (at the Goethe Institut, Nubuke Foundation, British Council, and Ghana National Museum)
-led and participated in mural projects with the FCA, Accra; Accra[dot]Alt; and the Youth Institute of Science & Technology, Ejisu-Kumasi
-been invited to the Youth in Action conferences in Spoleto, Italy and Mombassa, Kenya in 2010
Musah has worked with the Junior Art Club since its founding in 2000. He works to carry forward his passion for art to the people and especially the youth in his community. As he begins to educate the next generation of young Nima artists, he looks back to those who inspired him: Mozzay, Shamoun, and later Akirash, his teachers from his hometown of Nima.
- Musah Swallah
- Tro-Tro – Musah Swallah (acrylic on wood 21×11 in. 2009)
- Horn Blower – Musah Swallah (acrylic on canvas 36×24 in. 2008)
- Musah’s work at Nima: Muhinmanchi Art
Musah's mural at Accra(dot)Alt's Chale Wote street art festival in Jamestown, Accra this July
Musah's mural at the YIST school in Ejisu, Kumasi this October, in a community program run by Akosua Boateng of Boogie Down Nima
(Apologies for showing more of Musah’s work than Aminu Larry’s…It’s not an intentional imbalance, just that Musah has more photographs.)
- Team meeting with artist advisor Shamoun at right
- Me, Larry Aminu, and Musah in Musah’s studio compound
- Musah and Larry Aminu walking me through Nima
P.S. Like the JAC page too! (along with Nima: Muhinmanchi Art)
Tags: Accra, accra[dot]alt, akirash, akosua boateng, annual, art, artwork, boogie down nima, british council, conference, ejisu, facebook, fan page, fcaf, foundation for contemporary art, Ghana, ghana national museum, goethe institut, government, horn blower, islamic university college, italy, jac, jamestown, junior art club, kenya, koforidua jackson park, kumasi, like, mombassa, mozzay, mural, musah swallah, nima, nima: muhinmanchi art, nubuke foundation, page, paintings, program, robin riskin, shamoun, spoleto, traders, tro-tro, workshop, YIST, youth in action, youth institute of science & technology, yussif aminu larry
December 21st, 2011 at 4:38 am
Famous painting art is welcomed by the people, and many people are seeking such a beautiful sense of art, thanks to bloggers to share.