Art Worlds in Ghana

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.

Everyone says the art world in Ghana is down in the dumps. The government doesn’t fund it, schools hardly teach it, and the market for it is practically nonexistent. In some secondary schools, I’ve read, subjects like agriculture, economics, and management can even count as an art credit.

Larry Otoo at the Artists Alliance in Accra (shh you're not supposed to take pictures)

When I first got to Ghana, I was seriously disheartened by the lack of art or innovation in daily life around the city. I come from New York, where there are world-class museums, galleries in every neighborhood, coffee shops with poetry readings, guerilla art on graffitied garage doors, and sculpture in the tiles of subway walls.

In Ghana, you can count all the museums in the country on, well…three hands. The Accra National Museum is frankly pathetic. It has two large rooms and zero contemporary art. You’ll see posters for parties, clubs, and casinos all over the city, but pity the fool looking for the whereabouts of the art scene.

There is plenty of tourist art. Men hawk paintings and wooden carvings on the street. You can find bracelets and beads anywhere. But the vendors are just trying to make a buck, and they give the tourists exactly what they are looking for. Each work is like the next; there is no innovation.

And it’s no wonder. How can people afford to be interested in art when many of them are struggling just to put food on the table? Coming from New York prices, I smiled to myself when people would complain, “Ghana is expensive-o!” But it’s true: compared to wages, living expenses are very high. If your child says he wants to be an artist, you are going to worry how he is going to eat or support himself, let alone a family. There is no Williamsburg, no obvious community of artists to reach out to, and the government sure won’t support your projects.

After my first few days in Accra, I spent a month in a village, where the concerns of the art world left my mind. Then I came back to Accra in July, and I found my initial perceptions most wonderfully shattered.

The government might not do anything for art, but the artists are doing it themselves. There are a number of established artists, all of them friends with each other, most of whom have their main market in the West, who are taking steps to foster the art world and create a space for art in Ghana. They have their own galleries, their own gatherings, their own followings. They support themselves, and some of them support the next generation of aspiring artists too.

I befriended a number of the top artists in Ghana simply by contacting them (email, Facebook, phone) and asking to visit their studios. I found them through George Hughes, a well-known Ghanaian painter and performance artist currently in upstate New York who came to Haverford last semester for the symposium Look Both Ways (organized by my prof Ruti Talmor, who does anthropology work in Ghana). I ended up acting in George’s performance at Haverford last minute, playing a sort of golden nymph in a strange ritual. Anyway, he recommended a few of his artist friends in Ghana to get in touch with, and these people slowly chipped away at my perceptions and worries.

So I met Larry Otoo, Kofi Setordji, Wiz Kudowor, and Ablade Glover, all amazing artists who have found great success despite the lack of support for art in Ghana (though many did, luckily, have the support of their families). Larry is one of the gentlest and kindest Ghanaians I have met and became my dear friend. Kofi runs an incredible art space for the public and teaches the next generation. Wiz makes warm, gorgeous paintings and speaks sharply on the Ghanaian art world. Ablade, well, is the most renowned painter in Ghana and founded the Artists Alliance, which I personally think should be considered the national museum.

Get a taste of my adventures with these artists in the coming posts…

Saturday, June 12

Okay, now I know why I barely got one “obruni” in Accra before. It was because the whole time, I was with Kelvin and Lexis.

I went out in Accra by myself for the first time today, and I got a million obrunis. I also got my first marriage proposal (I was told I’d get a ton), although I suppose it wasn’t a proposal exactly. The man just said, “I am going to marry you. How do you feel about that?”

I was supposed to meet up with Naa, another Haverford student, but I never heard from her. It turned out she’d been locked out of her house without her phone. Anyway, I decided to go out on my own, and Kelvin gave me directions.

I went all over Accra: to the National Museum; Makola Market; and Osu, a district with restaurants, shopping, and clubs.

The museum was small but interesting. It had an upstairs and a downstairs that were maybe the size of two rooms at the Brooklyn Museum, and I was the only visitor. There were some interesting artifacts and photographs, and a lot about the first Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah. Sadly, I think I was most excited by the bathroom, which had a mirror. There are never mirrors here, not in bathrooms or anywhere. I know it sounds vain, but I’ve missed them. I was so excited I didn’t mind that the toilet didn’t flush.

Afterwards, I headed to Makola. I managed to get through the market without getting haggled into anything, though I’m looking forward to going back later and bargaining. I bought some coconut juice on the street to sustain me through the tro-tro to Osu. I drank it straight from the rough brown shell.

In Osu, I managed to shake off the street vendors who were attacking me. I tried my first Ghanaian ice cream at the downstairs in Frankie’s hotel – vanilla cake gelato. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and they had a mirror too! And liquid soap. What an exciting day. I ambled out with my ice cream in hand, and the US-UK match was just starting. There was a huge crowd gathered around a screen in the street. I sat myself on the curb and made friends with the kids next to me.

I didn’t get lost the whole day until it was time to go home. I was standing on the corner waiting for a tro-tro or shared taxi, but none of them were going in my direction. Everyone at the outdoor café wanted to talk to me, but no one wanted to tell me I was on the wrong side of the street.

When I finally got a tro-tro, I took it too far and missed my stop. Ugh. Kelvin and Lexis came to pick me up in the car, and I got home in one piece.

It had been a long and adventurous day. A good day in Accra.

Thursday, June 3

I’m in Ghana, and safe and sound. My flight was smooth, and only a little late. Kelvin (the man I’m working with at the Junior Art Club, who’s friends with Haverford anthro prof Jesse Shipley) picked me up at the airport, then showed me around the city.

Accra is different from any place I’ve ever been to before. But it’s cool. Or, I should say, hot.

Kelvin on my first day here waiting for the tro-tro, a crazy bus they have that costs as low as 20 pesewas.

Outside of the JAC office

A pretty house on the way to the JAC