October, the season’s favourite month of art, had been ever so radiant with the Contemporary Lynx team travelling to Ghana for the Accra Cultural Week with OmenaArt Foundation. The event took place from 24th to 28th October and was organised by Gallery 1957 – one of the most important spaces in Ghana, dedicated to representing African artists, with venues in London and Accra. A buzzing time filled with exhibitions, artist talks, performances, studio visits, and multidimensional cultural exchanges — all promoting the local art scene and hosting the visitors with utmostly generous creative abundance.
Accra Cultural Week promotes contemporary African art and celebrated its 3rd edition this year. Hosting more than 200 international guests; artists, curators, journalists, collectors, patrons, art fairs directors, and entrepreneurs, the Art Week aims to introduce them to the growing Ghanaian contemporary art scene. It is not a surprise that Ghanaian artists are gaining increasing popularity in the global art discourse and market with their diverse work embracing the country’s rich cultural heritage and dictating a new horizon for emerging talents. Many African art stars come from Ghana – El Anatsui, whose work sold for $1.4 million, Ablade Glover, Ibrahim Mahama, Rita Mawuena Benissan, Amoako Boafo (whose first museum exhibition in Europe opened at The Belvedere in Vienna). The auction record of $10.7 million belongs to the artist of Ethiopian origin, Julie Mehretu. Despite the country’s struggles with the aftermath of colonialism, slavery, and poverty, the contemporary art scene proves to have conquered the darkness of the past with a vivid hope of colour and breaking through conventions. This is where authenticity meets innovation and curiosity.
The art scene in Accra is booming and we are here for it!
Omenaa Mensah – Polish philanthropist and entrepreneur of Ghanaian roots
For the invitation of Polish philanthropist Omenaa Mensah, our team had the privilege of experiencing the spirit of the Accra Cultural Week and the inauguration of the construction of the Kids Haven Sport & Art Complex, a modern sports and arts centre, a space for orphans and their caregivers. Omenaa Mensah, a Polish philanthropist and entrepreneur of Ghanaian roots, is an enterprising businesswoman, a TV producer, one of the most charismatic show business personalities in Poland, but above all – a woman of an immense heart. When she first visited Ghana, her father’s country, she found herself at the Salesians of Don Bosco Centre near Tema, 25 kilometres east of Accra. This is where she has been running a Kids Haven School since 2021. It is a place for children coming from extreme poverty and those rescued from slave labour having been sold by their parents to traffickers.
During this year’s edition of the Accra Cultural Week, we were invited by Omenaa Mensah to witness the laying of the foundation stone for her new initiative of the Kids Haven Sport & Art Complex near Tema. The opening ceremony was truly a joyful celebration with the vibrant and loving energy of care and support that OmenaArt Foundation brings to the region radiating through all of us present. Omenaa Mensah has been both advocating and building safety nets for children and supporting the scene of emerging artists in Ghana. We were introduced to three young artists for whom Mensah funded life-changing artistic scholarships – Franklin Yohuno, Michael Kofi Adzah, and Josiah Tsibu Manu, whose works all span across a social commentary to Ghanaian life.
“I met Omenaa and her team in Accra as one of the awardees of the Artist Arundo Scholarship, which also happened to be the same week as the Accra Cultural Week. It was a vibrant week with numerous exhibition openings. OmenaArt Foundation’s support for the art scene is the start of something really great. I’m happy to be part of this amazing initiative” – says Michael Kofi Adzah.
I had the privilege of gaining knowledge from the world’s best during prestigious courses at the Royal College of Art and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, where I explored the latest trends in art and the secrets of investing in works with great growth potential. This experience helped me to outline a clear vision for the development of the TOP CHARITY Auction and the future art collection – I implement it with the utmost care for quality and standards recognised by world art institutions”.
Omenaa Mensah
Connecting the culture of Ghana with the at-large art world
Omenaa Mensah aims to connect the culture of Ghana with the art world, inviting renowned curators, such as members of Sotheby‘s or Tate Modern, to participate in the cultural exchange. Moreover, her collection includes works by esteemed artists who cupture the spirit of contemporary African culture.
“I had the privilege of gaining knowledge from the world’s best during prestigious courses at the Royal College of Art and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, where I explored the latest trends in art and the secrets of investing in works with great growth potential. This experience helped me to outline a clear vision for the development of the TOP CHARITY Auction and the future art collection – I implement it with the utmost care for quality and standards recognised by world art institutions” – says Omenaa Mensah.
While Natalia Bradbury, Head of OmenaArt Foundation, praises the rich Ghaninan art and everything it has to offer:
I found my recent trip to Ghana truly refreshing, offering a vivid and compelling insight into the unique visual language of African art. The Ghanaian art market presents an aesthetic deeply rooted in local traditions and ethnic heritage, standing in striking contrast to the familiar European paradigms. Witnessing how Ghanaian artists draw inspiration from their cultural origins inspired me to explore the foundations of their creativity even further. This experience has galvanised our foundation’s commitment to fostering cross-cultural artistic dialogue and to engage even more deeply with the rich tapestry of Ghanaian art.
WHAT WE SAW?
Highlights of the Accra Cultural Week
“Keeping Time” curated by Ekow Eshun and Karon Hepburn at the Gallery 1957
Gallery 1957, opened and named after the year when Ghana gained independence within the British Commonwealth, located between Makola Market and Black Star Square, is a contemporary art gallery with spaces in Accra and London. The gallery’s programme is dedicated to spearheading international exchanges, presenting artists who interrogate concepts of belonging and identity, cultural research, and social history beyond Western narratives. For the opening of the Art Week, the gallery presented three exhibitions, all of which we were lucky to attend. One of them, a group exhibition “Keeping Time”, curated by Ekow Eshun and Karon Hepburn, brought together international and Ghana-based artists from the African diaspora who explore notions of Blackness, being, and time.
“By presenting artworks that are both dream-like and speculative, abstract and figurative, the exhibition questions and disrupts our sense of being in the world through African diasporic perceptions of time.” – Curatorial Text by Ekow Eshun
Studio visit with Serge Attukwei Clottey
Based in Accra, Serge Attukwei Clottey is one of the most well-known Ghanaian artists. Born and raised in the city’s area of Labadi, his father was an artist who encouraged him to follow his path by enrolling him in Ghanatta College of Art & Design.
I grew up surrounded by art. Before I started college, we would study my father’s paintings together. I would draw a great deal, too. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether art was just a hobby or actually a career. My studies in Ghana and a scholarship in Brazil really motivated me to become part of the contemporary art scene, enabling me to think about different approaches to my work and what it was that I wanted to communicate artistically.
We had the pleasure of meeting Serge in person in his studio space in Labadi. His creative practice spans installation, performance, photography, and sculpture, all devoted to exploring the ideological and psychic meanings invested in quotidian objects and how such materials circulate in local and global economies. His practice has a true community spirit – for his project at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2023, he hired, and at the same time supported, his neighbours who helped him stitch his enormous installation, made of the yellow plastic Kufuor gallons. During the meeting, he explained to us the process and how he used to collect the material from local dump sites for free, but now he has to buy them. The gallons are normally used to transport cooking oil and are visible on markets and streets, as part of everyday life. Clottey’s work is a great example of a community-engaged practice that embraces the local legacy through everyday objects. All in the honest spirit, mutual respect, and appreciation of the here and now.
“Echoes of the Mundane Mindfulness”, a solo show of Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah at the Gallery 1957
Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah is a Ghanaian artist and the winner of the 2023 Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize. She presented her first solo show with the Gallery 1957 during this year’s Cultural Week. We met Lois at the opening, where, in her outfit, she was fully integrated with the visuals of the site-specific installation. Arde-Acquah’s both repetitive and evolving work embraces the rhythms of our everyday actions. The next day, she did a 5-hour performance that expressed the radiant presence of an artist, displaying her endurance and focus in the act of creation.
“The Listening Sweet II Ghana”, a solo show of Andrew Pierre Hart at the Gallery 1957
The third exhibition with Gallery 1957 honoured a two-month residency of the London-born Barbadian artist Andrew Pierre Hart. Presenting paintings, murals, and sculptures, each artwork is infused with the layers that have been part of Hart’s experience of Accra, especially its ambient music scene. His work honours the time in Ghana and somewhat translates the dimensional, vibrant atmosphere of the city and its people. Hart’s paintings capture the essence of the street culture of Ghanaians – music. With his radiant colour palette and somehow distorted perspectives, the artist sets his portraits in a state of paused groove of some sort. His figures are enjoying themselves, not caring if they are looked at. They are in their element and not to be messed around. The joy and respect that emanates from Hart’s figures is a beautiful homage to the culture and the lifestyle of the people of Accra.
Studio visit with Awanle Ayiboro Hawa Ali
As a part of the Gallery 1957 programme, we were also able to meet an emerging artist, Awanle Ayiboro Hawa Ali, who has been in residency with the gallery since April and is preparing for her solo show this winter. As a young Ghanaian artist working with feminist themes, Awanle Ayiboro Hawa Ali’s work is inspired by African women’s experiences in patriarchal societies. Her daring portraits empower and create dialogues between voices that usually would not have been heard or intentionally drowned as irrelevant.
Dikan Center
On a hot sunny afternoon, the Dikan Gallery welcomed us to show their curated exhibitions and public programming on works of Africa and the diaspora. Like “Tewahedo: The Ancient Faith of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians” by Sehin Tewabe and Svenja Krüger, who managed to capture the spiritual, faith, and cultural heritage of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians – one of the world’s oldest Christian traditions. Dikan Gallery combines the presentation of emerging artists with the rediscovery and reassessment of work by established voices. Apart from its role as a gallery, Dikan is also a visionary non-profit institution dedicated to educating generations of Africa’s creative leaders. Its founder’s goal is to provide a space for conversation and create the first real community around photography in Ghana.
Artemartis Collective
Last yet by no means the least, the Artemartis Collective is definitely worth a mention, too, as a residency space, artists‘ ateliers where early-career artists have space to experiment and create. It’s also a transparent and creative space that welcomes and develops new ideas and experiences, serving as the bridge between collectors, galleries, institutions, stakeholders, and artists. In 7 years of operating and currently representing 5 emerging visual artists (https://www.theartemartis.com/about), whose careers started to boom with ongoing international invitations to Paris and London for exhibitions in private commercial galleries. Like James Mishio’s solo exhibition in the LIS10 Gallery, Courage K. Hunke’s in the Affinity Gallery and Kwaku Yaro in the Septiem Gallery (all in Paris).
I grew up surrounded by art. Before I started college, we would study my father’s paintings together. I would draw a great deal, too. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether art was just a hobby or actually a career. My studies in Ghana and a scholarship in Brazil really motivated me to become part of the contemporary art scene, enabling me to think about different approaches to my work and what it was that I wanted to communicate artistically.
Omenaa Mensah
This inspiring journey made us think of the importance of supporting young talents and helping them pave their careers. Having witnessed the generous support of the OmenaArt Foundation, we leave Ghana in awe of the philanthropic endeavours of the Polish entrepreneur and with a longing to discover how the talents will evolve.
This diary is a precious highlight of the ever-so-rich experience of the Accra Cultural Week. We come back inspired and refreshed, beyond happy to have had a chance to experience the Ghanaian art scene and the generosity of the local artists, curators, and galleries.
