TAFA Members Talk: Creativity Prevails in Ghana

Aba House gets a new wall, Ghana style!

by Ellie Schimelman

The village of Sumburigu is near Bolga in northern Ghana. In July three women from the village packed their bags with important things like crushed stones, dowadowa leaves and coal tar and took a very long bus ride to Accra where Belinda, the daughter of one of them joined them to travel to Aba House. Belinda was important because she was the interpreter - from fra fra to english.

The women were essiential because they were coming to paint our wall. Anyone can paint a wall, but not the way they do it. The first day the wall was chiseled and then plastered with a mixture of sand and cold tar. Traditionally cow dung is used, but coal tar served the purpose.
At the end of the fourth day we had a spectacular painted wall full of symbols relating to life in northern Ghana.

I asked the women to sign the wall (how western of me) and they each left a handprint (how african of them).

 Signing a painted wall in Ghana.

The women's names are Adintoge, Asinsoboro, and Adompoka. Two of the women really do paint their own houses with patterns. The third woman, although she participated and worked hard, was a ringer. I wonder how you say that in fra fra. An okra mouth reported on her. She wasn't going to miss this opportunity and I don't blame her. I'm glad I didn't miss it either. And next summer........ another wall.


And for the rest of the summer the Aba House kids made paper from sugarcane leaves, books, and our newest item- jewelry from the paper.

The kids are having a gallery show in Philadelphia next February.

One day, as everyone was scattered around working, three different people were singing three different songs in three different languages. Although English is the official language in Ghana, it certainly isn't  at Aba House. But somehow, it doesn't seem to matter. Creativity prevails.

Every summer we have interesting visitors. Anna from the African museum in Brussels came to buy a fantasy coffin. She added French to our language mix. Saundra, who actually spoke English, was coming back to Ghana after being there in the Peace Corps 46 years ago. Her stories about how things use to be are fascinating.  Greenie, a first grade teacher from Chicago, worked with some of our younger kids. After she left, one of the kids asked me if I would call the United States and have another teacher come work with them. Ah, if only it was that easy.
Greenie kept a blog while at Aba House: kidconnections

And next year: definitely another workshop with the house painters - our annual African textile workshop- possibly a tour to Burkina or Mali - lots of opportunities for artists and teachers - volunteer positions or just come rent a room and enjoy the ocean view.


The Cross Cultural Collaborative is a member of TAFA, The Textile and Fiber Art List.
Visit their member profile to find out more about this wonderful project.

TAFA Members Talk: Creativity Prevails in Ghana

El Anatsui: Making Garbage Speak

Nane
The October Gallery

I recently posted about Ellie's Cross Cultural Collaborative program in Ghana. She e-mailed me today about El Anatsui, an artist native of Ghana who has lived in Nigeria for many years and asked if I was familiar with his work. I wasn't. After exploring some links, I just had to share some of his work here on Fiber Focus as he embodies the essence of what I would like to see happen in this blog.

For a long time, I have felt the need help lessen the divide between "artists" and "artisans" which I believe uses ethnocentric language to categorize work that might have similar functions and skill levels yet results in a huge disparity of recognition and price point. The key, I believe, has to do with the educational level and language used by the maker in his or her description of the work. The first level of separation happens between developed and underdeveloped countries, while the second happens within those same countries, between the educated who have access to both language skills and to the markets that will support their prices.

Nukae
The October Gallery

El Anatsui has embraced the divide and consciously uses his fine art training to break out of that mold into one which addresses societal issues and the language of the people. He explains how if he chooses to work with bronze, the material is alien to the population. But, if he uses a Coke bottle, everybody knows what that is, and in knowing, they can see his work. The photos I chose for this post all resemble textiles, although Anatsui thinks of them as sculptures. He does acknowledge that he grew up among textile weavers and his father and brothers wore kinte cloths. Many of Anatsui's pieces are dimensional and free standing. The Metropolitan Museum video below has an excellent interview with the artist, where he speaks of how his pieces are assembled and how they can be displayed.



The transformation of garbage into something so beautiful is a powerful testament to how we perceive our surroundings. El Anatsui speaks of beauty as not only ocular, but as something that also has a qualitative value. A person can have physical beauty, but the inner qualities are what makes that beauty powerful and valuable. In the same way, his work has a definite beauty of composition which comes to life when the viewer understands and relates to the message.



As I was looking at his work, it occurred to me that he can only make his statement because he has a receptive audience who understands what he is trying to say. El Anatsui has the language he needs to bridge that gap between the monied institutions who can afford to house, display and purchase his work, as well as the life and cultural experience where he can communicate to the uneducated masses. Without that language, surely his special vision of the potential and message of garbage would have remained just that, garbage.

Versatility
2006
Aluminum and copper wire
Fowler Museum at UCLA, museum purchase, X2007.7.1

Africans have a long history of using garbage as a natural resource. Their tin painted suitcases, wire toys, pop can cars, tire sandals, papier mache bowls, recycled vinyl record beads and inner tube furniture have been raw materials for craft production for decades. If you are poor and you have the skills to weave, build, solder or cut, you can eek out a living with what you have around you. These crafts have had success with co-ops, fair trade groups and collectors. But, El Anatsui takes this tradition to another level. The sheer volume and size of his works make a powerful impact on the viewer. You look at it and try to imagine how many wine bottle wrappings it took to make this piece. Then you realize that this is nothing compared to what is thrown away daily.

Blue Moon
2008
Aluminum and copper wire
Collection of the artist

As our natural resources begin to run out, so will the availability of certain types of garbage. Copper wire used to be thrown about and now there are stories here in the United States of houses for sale being stripped during the night of anything containing copper. What will happen when plastics, aluminum, and tin become valuable? Hopefully, it will force us to establish better recycling systems and biodegradable containers. Meanwhile, we can let El Anatsui use his garbage to speak to us. If we listen, we will see our shared histories: our past and our future.

El Anatsui: Making Garbage Speak

Cross Cultural Collaborative: Textile Workshop in Ghana!

Kente cloth strips sewn into a larger textile.

Fiber Artists!!!

Come join us in Ghana!

Aug. 2 - 15, 2009!!!!

by Ellie Schimelman

Ghana is known for it's rich history of art and culture and although it has adapted some Western ways, Ghana still has spectacular festivals to celebrate it's heritage. Part of each festival is a durbar which is comparable to a parade where all the important people, like chiefs, dress in their regalia. This is where you can see Kente cloth in all its glory. Even if you don't know anything about Kente, when you see it you know that it is special.

Asafo flag, appliqued and embroidered.

"Dancing the flag"

Each year we organize a workshop at our cultural center in a suburb of Accra where participants can learn to weave Kente, stamp adinkra, learn about Asafo, do tie and dye, batik and other fabric decorations which are taught by master artisans. This is a unique opportunity to experience African textiles in the context of their culture. Participants visit galleries, museums, cloth markets, crafts villages and dealers in antiquities.

Many traditional approaches to cloth are being lost because young artisans want to be modern and don't want to do the tedious work required to be authentic. There is a saying in Africa that each time an elder dies a library is lost... and each time a traditional artisan dies a technique is lost. There was a time when it would take a Kente weaver 3 months to weave a piece. Now, many weavers rush to get cloth ready for the 5 day market. Another reason we offer this workshop is to show indigenous artisans that their traditions have value and should be continued.

Adinkra stamps from Ghana

Sometimes the Ghanaian artist will find a modern way to work with the traditional techniques. An example of this is making the symbols on adinkra cloth using silk screen. This is certainly much faster than the traditional stamping of the symbols onto the cloth. Each way has a different look and it's up to the buyer to decide which one they prefer.

A man wearing adinkra cloth in Ghana.

There is no doubt that there are universal connections in art. In reference to African cloth, all you have to do is look at the quilts of the Gee's Bend artists. African cloth has always had symbolic meaning. Men and women taken from Africa to the diaspora had memories of cloth designs and the meanings they carried. It's easy to see how African American story quilts retain traces of African fabric techniques.

If you'd like details about the textile workshop please download a brochure at http://www.culturalcollaborative.org and any questions can be directed to aba@culturalcollaborative.org

If you come to Ghana, we'll give you an African name. Many people are named after the day of the week on which they were born. Aba is a female born on Thursday.

About Ellie Schimelman:

I graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a minor in apparel design and a major in art education. Always drawn to African art, I decided to see it in Africa and by a process of elimination chose to start in Ghana. I had really wanted to go to South Africa, but because of Apartheid, decided not to. Ghana was a good choice... English is the official language and the culture is intact.

One thing led to another, and now 20 some years later, I am the director of Cross Cultural Collaborative, with a mud house next to the ocean, about 50 Ghanaian children who call me Mami and a mission to introduce people from different cultures to each other through the language of art. The photo shows Aba House which has eight guest rooms.

My fantasy is to someday visit every African country....

Keep in touch with us through our blog!

Cross Cultural Collaborative: Textile Workshop in Ghana!