Artists

Akosua Odeibea Amoah-Yeboah, Kelvin Haizel, Gideon Hanyame, Ibrahim Mahama, Daniel Arnan Quarshie, Tracy Naa Koshie Thompson

Press release

Art as Decoy for Social and Political Change

The epoch that shaped diverse art practices and discourses within the Painting and Sculpture department at KNUST has had a profound and far-reaching impact on artists in Ghana and beyond. This influence can be traced back to the silent revolution sparked by kąrî’kạchä seid’ou’s Emancipatory Art Teaching project, which was already gaining momentum by the 2000s. This revolution was not merely about transforming artistic techniques; it was deeply intertwined with broader theories of political movements, parts of which echoed the revolutionary ethos of Kwame Nkrumah. In Kwesi Ohene Ayeh’s “Notes on Contemporary Ghanaian Art: Histories and Emergences” he critically traces the history of the inherited colonial academic curriculum through pre-independence till date.

Nkrumah’s vision of decolonization extended beyond political independence, emphasizing the importance of cultural and intellectual emancipation.