An art exhibition titled ‘Ghana 1957: Art After Independence’ has opened at the National Museum in Accra, highlighting Ghanaian art from the colonial period to the post-independence era.
The exhibition, a pilot one, features diverse media, styles, and forms that explore the connection between modern art and artisanal/crafts-based practices in Ghana, highlighting the origins of contemporary art.
Dr Kwasi Ohene-Dayeh, an independent curator, stated that the exhibition project was the first step in their research process for a collaborative exhibition in 2027, which is set to coincide with Ghana’s 70th independence anniversary.
The project aims to create new histories that will shape the present and future.
Dr Ohene-Dayeh, a lecturer at the Department of Painting and Sculpture at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science, said the exhibition was to showcase and celebrate artists from diverse backgrounds, including class, culture, and gender.
‘Exhibition plays a very important role in how we teach art, how we und
erstand art and how we discuss art. Through this exhibition, we want to contribute to the conversations about new approaches to thinking art, teaching art and making art,’ he said
Dr. Mahmoud Malik Saako, Assistant Director of the National Museum, emphasised that the museum had become a platform for learning and promoting the arts.
‘Art is science, even the mixing of our colours is science, weneed to let people know that art can also help them to make a living. We want the public to see the museum as an important vehicle that can change the fortune of art in Ghana and create jobs for the teeming youth,’ he said
The exhibition is divided into three areas, with the first one titled ‘A New Nation.’ This section focuses on the fictional, political, and prospective aspects of a post-colonial national identity, which was shaped by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the political leaders of that time.
The objects on display include Kofi Antubam’s Presidential Seat and footstool designed in 1956, Nii Amon Kotei’s Computer Num
eric Control (CNC) cutting of the Coat of Arms, independence commemorative Stool made by carvers from Nankese in the Eastern Region and portrait of Dr Nkrumah.
The ‘Women in the Arts’ register features work from skilled female artists such as Theodosia Okoh, Grace Kwami, Felicia Abban, and others who significantly influenced cultural identity and art forms.
The Creative Networks section provides insight into the intricate connections between various entities such as arts foundations, institutions, photography studios, artists, art schools, curricula, teachers, and arts movements in Ghana, the US, and the UK.
Source: Ghana News Agency