Showing posts with label Adugyama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adugyama. Show all posts

Friday, October 23, 2009

Art Reception/Exhibition, Adugyama, Ghana, Sat. Oct. 31, 12-5pm

Art Reception/Exhibition

Hello Everyone,

You are cordially invited to a one day exhibit and reception of art work by Daniel Kerkhoff, the children of Adugyama, and guests.

When: Saturday, October 31st, 12pm to 5pm.

Where: The Area Council Hall, Adugyama, Ashanti Region, Ghana

Adugyama is 45 km northwest of Kumasi on the Sunyani Road. The Area Council Hall is across the street from the MTN tower.

We hope to see you there. Everyone is welcome!


Reception/Receptions

Reception n. 1. an act or process of receiving; a reaction to something.
2. an assembly held to receive guests. --Oxford English Mini Dictionary

Since April, I have been an artist-in residence in Adugyama,.Ghana and have been running an informal drop-in center for children, providing books, paper, pens, pencils, and colored pencils. Children from the neighborhood stop by, draw, and look at the books available.




The children are all ages and draw in a variety of eclectic styles. Some have focused on drawing animals, cars, airplanes, computers, houses, football players, scenes from village life, planets and stars, trees and nature scenes and many other things. Some have been drawing patterns, focusing on shapes and lines, and creating unique compositions. Many of their drawings will be in the exhibit, and you can see some of them on my flickr site, www.flickr.com.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23472741@N05/sets/72157617821705408/

Also, children/adults from Lisbon, Portugal; Mobile, Alabama, U.S.A. ; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. have also sent some artwork to the village and this will be included in the exhibit as well in The Obruoni Gallery.

I have been doing my own art using pens, pencils, a water color set, a ream of A4 computer paper, a gallon of acrylic house paint, the dirt and charcoal around his residence, and vegetable and palm oils. Many of my dirt paintings have evolved into large collages.




These collages relate to my own preoccupations, interests in symbols and shapes, and my personal aesthetic sensibilities interweaving with my experiences in Ghana and the village of Adugyama. I see them as acts of receiving and discovery; they are my journal of witnessing that also honor those mysteries that transcend narrow definitions and rigid labeling.

Mortars and pestles, basins, yams, mobile phones, Adinkra symbols, cacao pods, footballs (soccer balls), stars, tea bags, benches, and ladders have all grabbed me in one way or another and made there way into these pieces. These large scale collages have also taken on a hide, animal skin-like quality. In November, I will fold them up, put them in my suitcase, and return with them back to the U.S. to show. Hopefully, they will become acts of sharing as well and become a part of the Great Weaving Project that has been going on for a long time now.

The children's art of Adugyama will be shown again in June, 2010 at Homewood Studios (www.homewoodstudios.com) in north Minneapolis, MInnesota. Homewood Studios is owned by George and Beverly Roberts who have stayed in the village of Adugyama and have many connections here. Their son, Andrew, was the Peace Corps volunteer in Adugyama for three years and the reason why I am here. Many thanks to them for introducing me to the people here, for all the work that they've done in the communities of Adugyama and north Minnneapolis, and for their encouragement.

I will also have a solo show of my art in June 2010 in north Minneapolis at The Warren-An Artist Habitat, www.thewarrenhabitat.com.

James Joyce had written, "History is a nightmare that I'm trying to wake up from." From Mankato, Minnesota to Adugyama, Ghana, to wherever you are, perhaps within the realm of the "nightmare", little "waking ups" are happening all the time. I use art and travel to try and wake myself up and also notice how much I am sleeping.

Ghana just won the FIFA under-twenty world championships beating Brazil in the final. The Ghana Black Satellites are the first African team to win the championship. Everyone is excited here. I watched the match in Adugyama (Adugyama just got electricity 10 years ago). I was with five boys, Yaw Bimpe, Kwaku Baah, Sadick, Yaw Gyamfi, and Agya. They were dancing, clapping, and shouting in our room and it was an amazing moment for them. Nana and Auntie Bea came in the room and celebrated as well. I took their photos, witnessed this moment, and will take it back with me along with so many other moments.

Many thanks to everyone I met and got to know in Ghana and to those of you reading and commenting on the blogs and photos. Many thanks to my family and friends for all of their support. And a special thanks to the people in Adugyama who helped me so much and shared so much of their lives with me; the family I lived with--Mr. Atta, Auntie Bea, Nana, Rose, Becky, Sara, Ama, Yaw Bimpe, Kwaku Baah, Jennifer, and Sandra. Meda se Pa Paa, Thank you very much!

Over the winter, I'll continue blogging, uploading more photos, reflecting on my experiences here and doing more art.

You can follow along at

http://danielkerkhoff.blogspot.com/
http://thejuderockfish.blogspot.com/

And my photos: www.flickr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23472741@N05/

Nante Yie (walk well, safe journey), Keep in touch! --Daniel

Daniel Kerkhoff
Ph. 0278913055
rockfish65@yahoo.com
www.danielkerkhoff.com
http://mnartists.org/daniel_kerkhoff
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Hair Stylists: Sandra and Her Mother, Rose



This is Sandra doing a really cool hair style for her friend using little sticks placed in her friend's hair. Sandra is five yrs. old. She spent a lot of time and was very focused on creating this really interesting hair fashion. I'd like to see this catch on and be seen on the streets of New York. An expansion of the two chopsticks style.

Sandra lives at the same place I do and is often drawing with me or hanging out and playing. She has many friends in the neighborhood. I see them playing hand games and 'kitchen' with tin cans and dirt and water. Her and her friends have all sorts of games they devise. They're often dancing and singing songs as well. Sandra's mother, Rose, runs a successful hair salon in town right on the Sunyani Rd.



Here is a top view of the hair style by Sandra.






This is Rose, Sandra's mother. She is Auntie Bea's sister and lives in the place that I'm at where there are two houses right next to each other. Here she is having fun posing for a photo in her hair salon.

She's usually very busy in her salon coloring hair, adding extensions and wigs, and doing various types of hair cuts. She has a couple of assistants as well who are learning from her.

Rose taught me how to hand wash my clothes properly and will occasionally cook me local Ghanaian dishes. I also have difficulties with my back on occasion and she teaches me different exercises and stretches.



Here is the view of her hair salon on the Sunyani Rd., the main highway between the cities of Kumasi and Sunyani.

A fashion note or cultural note: I noticed girls wearing two or three rows of beads around their waist, a belt of beads. I was told girls wear these beads because it will help them have wider hips and a larger bottom. Girls wear them up to ten yrs. of age or even older.

Another fashion note: I watched on the news that in Burkino Faso, the country north of Ghana the latest fashion trend is to create very dark, pronounced eyebrows using eyeliner. They showed all sorts of very long and interesting shaped dark lines on the eyebrows of women in Burkino Faso.
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Thursday, April 23, 2009

Children's Art from Adugyama, Ghana

I have fulfilled my mission. I came into the world with song. No one can sing with my voice. But I have nothing, neither children nor wealth. My reward is beyond, and here in the words I leave with you the youth. My songs are gifts from the creator himself.

--Hesino Akpalu, Ewe Poet from Guardians of the Sacred Word (New York: Nok 1974 Ed. Kofi Awoonor.





I was working outside and Papa Yaw Opare stopped by. He was watching me for awhile. Then, I gave him some paper and a ballpoint pen. He did some drawings and then he started writing. Below is what he wrote.



What Papa Yaw Opare wrote:

Narrated by Papa Yaw Opare
My Self

My Name is Papa Yaw OPare. I at the age of elevn years old (11) My mothers name is cinthia Asamoah and my fathers name is Kofi otu.

I attend school at hope international school. I am in class five (5). I come from Akwapim Manfi but I stay at Adugyama. I am Chocolate in complexion.





This is the table I've been working at. Children stop by and I will give them paper, a pen, or colored pencils, and then they draw with me. I also have books that they will read.

For two weeks I was working mostly at this table. Lately, I've been going outside to draw and paint. Maybe one or two students will drop by and I will give them some supplies to work with.

If some students are at the table, I'll give them supplies as well and stop by and see what they are doing. This past week, I started painting with dirt and charcoal, so that has been keeping me busy outide.

It's great for the students to see. I tell them it's Adugyama Paint, very affordable. They look inside my little tin can and see dirt. I show them all the different tones I can make by adding water or using dry brush.







This drawing by Yaw Bimpe is based on one of my drawings. He came up with the idea of using Adinkra symbols in his drawing. In this one, there are two. Then, he took some of my elements and created a new composition.











The age of the children drawing range between 3 and 19 yrs. old. A few adults have also drawn with us. I'll be gradually posting more photos to my flickr page, so you can see more there. http://www.flickr.com/photos/23472741@N05/
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