From Emancipatory [Art] teaching to Ground-breaking Art Exhibition: "Cornfields in Accra"

By Va-Bene E. K. F

Over the past decade, the Department of Painting and Sculpture, KNUST under the revolutionary and interventionist teaching of [Dr] kąrî'kạchä seid'ou who has until recently been supported by some of his colleague lecturers [ifnotall], expanded its artistic territories beyond the walls of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the city of Kumasi. However, the department has recorded several 'self-curated' solo exhibitions by students as part of their final year projects in and outside the University premises cutting across Kumasi township and its environs.  Several spaces including halls of residence, slums, homes, streets, market places, restrooms, lorry stations, railways, 'traffics', abandoned building/ structures, shops and many more unconventional locations have been explored and 'exploited' by the students every year for their shows. Many of such shows resonate as post-studio art practice in very strong experimental spirits of installations, performances, video art, photography, food art, graffiti paintings and sculptures.

In 2014, blaxTARLINES, (a new project space for contemporary art founded by the Department of Painting and Sculpture, KNUST) in collaboration with Nubuke Foundation extended the Department's End-of-year show to the "heart of the nation", Accra, showcasing works of 17 selected final year undergraduates at Nubuke Foundation. That marked the first ever group show of upcoming contemporary artists from the art school of KNUST including live performance art, photography, paintings, sculptures, installations and video art.

Ever since,  blaxTARLINES has worked hard to establish an annual group show that includes selected students, alumni and lecturers at the end of every academic year aside other significant exhibitions that take place almost every semester. In 2015, their collaboration with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) yielded an exhibition entitled, "the Gown must go to Town" which has since remained a ground-breaking art show in the history of contemporary art in Ghana.

In recent time, the artistic directors of blaxTARLINES have redesigned their curatorial and exhibition strategies to accommodate works of selected students from various departments; engineering, food science, computer science, architecture and many more in collaboratively charged and multidisciplinary spirits to expand the scopes and discourses of contemporary art in Ghana and beyond. In same spirit of collaboration this year with GMMB, blaxTARLINES presents another 'mega' show: "Cornfields in Accra", the 2016 end-of-year art exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra which borrows its title from the Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo's eponymous poem. 

According to the press release, the event, which opens at 5:30pm, Friday 17th June 2016, will present about 80 artists  including selected students, guest artists (alumni and lecturers) from the Department of Painting and Sculpture, KNUST and some internationally significant artists such as Bernard Akoi-Jackson who is the curator of the show, Ibrahim Mahama, and Dorothy Amenuke.

Contact:
Bernard +233(0)242858977. Adjo +233(0)209936860. Mavis +233(0)501362357 for more information.