Art Worlds in Ghana

I’d figured I’d better meet up with the artist Kofi Dawson when Ato and Adwoa at the FCA and Michael at the Dei Centre all told me I should. I gave him a call. With only a few days’ warning, I managed to see him on my second to last day in Ghana.

His place is nestled in an interesting area. It’s down the block from a number of other artists, around the corner from a former President’s family’s dwelling, and also not too far off from the slums.

He wore a white beret, yellow t-shirt, and large-rimmed glasses. He welcomed me into his home and showed me his work. Kofi’s art is so varied you might not be able to tell that it’s all by the same person. An abstract print of lotto numbers is next to a French-influenced painting of a market lady, next to a multimedia collage of snails made out of seashells and pea pods. I peered into his studio but did not venture inside due to the layers of dust and canvases. Kofi’s nieces and nephews from next door wandered into his living room. I got to chat with them while I looked through his photographs and prints.

At the recommendation of Steve Feld (an anthropologist in Ghana who is a friend of my mother’s friend, and who also turned out to be my professor Ruti Talmor’s professor back at NYU…small world), I got in touch with the people who run the Foundation for Contemporary Art (FCA), Ato and Adwoa. They gave me some great advice and a number of people to contact and places to visit.

Thanks to Ato and Adjoa, I visited the Dei Centre — it supports NYU students doing art in Ghana and is basically an amazing collection of contemporary, mostly African art. The work at the Dei Centre is more politically charged and cutting-edge than at the Artists Alliance, which tends to be more traditional (market scenes, ladies, etc.). There was more multimedia work at the Dei – canvases made of beads, collage works, layered sculpture-paintings, a wall of adrinka symbols made by the old Italian ambassador to Ghana.

A number of artists overlap with the Artists’ Alliance, including Larry, Wiz, and George Hughes. But there were also more younger artists and a greater range at the Dei Centre. I was thrilled to see challenging, political artwork in Ghana, and a space for younger (though still successful) artists alongside more established ones. Plus, the staff there could not be nicer. Michael, Michael, and Jennifer, three university grads fulfilling their year of service, were happy to show me around the center and tell me about their work.