We're taking a stop in Ghana's capital, Accra. It is home to a vibrant, contemporary art scene. Curator and author Nana Oforiatta Ayim shows us some hotspots.
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00:00Hi, I'm Nana Ofriat Ayim. I'm a writer, art historian and curator.
00:04Welcome, this is my city.
00:10We're here in the capital of my country, Ghana, and this is Black Star Square.
00:15This is where we celebrate the freedom and the independence of our country.
00:20And I'm here today to celebrate the creativity and ingenuity of our city.
00:25Accra is on the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Africa.
00:29Around five million people live in Accra, where there are many different kinds of industry,
00:35including fishing, manufacturing, finance and transportation, amongst many others.
00:44It is a vibrant city with much creativity.
00:48Jamestown is one of the oldest areas of Accra and home of the Ga people.
00:53Trade began internally with the forest areas, and then with those from outside,
00:58like the Portuguese, British, Dutch, Swedes and Danes.
01:03What began as friendly trade relationships quickly turned violent,
01:08especially with the increasing horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
01:13In our creative expression and production, we're still grappling with the legacies of imperialism,
01:19slavery, colonialism, nation-building, and what it means to make our futures.
01:26I'm now going to meet the exciting artist Kwesi D'Arco.
01:28Kwesi's studio is always a great place to visit.
01:31Every time I'm here, Kwesi's always creating something new.
01:34I'm excited to see his latest pieces, which involve him working on car doors.
01:40So, tell me about this body of work that you're working on.
01:43The title of this project is One-Way Vision.
01:46It takes inspiration from a lot of things.
01:50Amongst Kwesi's inspirations are the trotrors,
01:52privately owned minibuses that serve as transportation across the country.
02:00The word trot comes from the Ga term for three pence,
02:02which was the bus fare when Ghana was still using the British West African pound.
02:08Trotrors are often personalized with sayings and stickers,
02:11which are known as one-way stickers.
02:15The name comes from a certain specific printing technique.
02:18I realized a lot of Ghanaian transports adopted this technique.
02:22And for me, I was curious about the fact that these people were curating images.
02:27And I thought, wow, this is a really interesting technique.
02:30So, I decided to go with it.
02:32I was curious about the fact that these people were curating images.
02:37Some talk about life, some have political undertones, social commentary.
02:43It's a way of people just expressing their opinions without even seeing the words out loud.
02:49There's art all around, even though we don't notice it.
02:51Exactly.
02:53Kwesi is inspired by the creativity and ways of expression at work on the trotrors,
02:58in a place where everything is art.
03:02To make one-way vision, Kwesi spent time at the local trotror station,
03:06where he took photos and videos of all around him.
03:15You know, it's almost like seeing the street as an exhibition space.
03:19Exactly.
03:20Really exciting.
03:22And you said there's an AR aspect as well?
03:23Yes, I can show you.
03:25Kwesi has used augmented reality, or AR,
03:28to embed QR codes that link his videos and make them come to life.
03:39And so, it's a way to get people moving through the space.
03:43And so, I was like on the street and I saw somebody had
03:46written on their car, in Kabuma Odo, which is community brings love.
03:50I love that you're bringing in technology
03:53to bring these kind of exhibition models to life.
04:08Do you want to be photographed?
04:10Let's see.
04:13He's also a great photographer,
04:15and we end our visit with a photo shoot near his home.
04:18And I love how your dress matches the patterns of everything around you.
04:22The green, the brown.
04:24Nice.
04:25Like a performance picture.
04:26Performance, exactly.
04:27Yeah.
04:28I actually really like this.
04:29Thanks so much for coming.
04:32Nice to see you.
04:33Likewise.
04:34Take care, and I'll see you very soon.