Kwame Akoto-Bamfo

Last updated
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo
Born1983
Ghana
EducationBFA & MFA in painting and sculpture
Alma mater Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Known for Nkyinkyim Installation
Notable work Blank Slate Monument
Movement Sculptor
Nkyinkim by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice that opened in 2018 in Montgomery, Alabama Nkyinkim Installation by Kwame Akoto Bamfo at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.jpg
Nkyinkim by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice that opened in 2018 in Montgomery, Alabama

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo (born 1983) is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator and activist, known for his sculptures and massive body of works dedicated to the memory, healing and Restorative Justice for people of African descent. His outdoor sculptures are dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade, notably the installation Nkyinkim, on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice that opened in 2018 in Montgomery, Alabama. [1] His other sculptures include an installation of 1,200 concrete heads representing Ghana's enslaved ancestors in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Called Faux-Reedom, it was unveiled in 2017. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo grew up in Accra and the Eastern Region of Ghana, where he and his sister were raised by a single mother and grandmother. Learning a lot of traditional Ghanaian culture and values as well as African philosophy from village life with his grandmother, he later attended schools in Ghana's capital Accra before attending Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School. Upon graduating, he trained at the College of Arts Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where he graduated with first-class honours and then later attained his master's degree from the same university. He worked as a lecturer and acting Head of Graphic Design Department for four years, leaving in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time artist and social entrepreneur.

Exhibitions

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo's first major exhibition was during the 60th Independence Day (Ghana) Celebration when he outdoored Nkyinkyim Installation sculptures of over 1,200 concrete portrait heads of people of African descent at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in an exhibition dubbed ‘Faux-Reedom’. Kwame used the strong imagery of life-size sculpted heads to question Ghana's independence and draw international attention to Ghana's neo-colonial legacies. Kwame's work toes a fine line between public art and activism. His works reference colonial legacies, racial justice, racial equity, healing and restorative justice. Kwame's travelling exhibition Blank Slate Palimpsest Monument, also known as the Blank Slate Monument was unveiled in Ghana in 2019 and toured the United States, visiting notable places of historic significance to the 'African American Experience' such as Selma, Harlem and New York City's Times Square, where the monument was unveiled during the sentencing of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Other notable stops include Louisville Kentucky, Detroit's Motown Museum, Chicago's DuSable Museum and The King Center in Atlanta.

Nkyinkyim Installation

The Nkyinkyim Installation is an evolving installation, created to archive African history and African heritage, and has an extensive section dedicated to enslaved Africans. This globally acclaimed installation extends the impact of The National Memorial for Peace and Justice; the Nkyinkyim Installation and Legacy Museum; Nkyinkyim Installation; Dirge Across time/Melancholic lullabies.

Other activities

Public speaking

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is regularly engaged in public speaking, research, and lectures largely due to his work as a sculptor, archiving and promoting African history and cultural heritage at Nkyinkyim Museum.

Film and television

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwame Nkrumah</span> Ghanaian politician (1909–1972)

Francis Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained independence from Britain. He was then the first Prime Minister and then the President of Ghana, from 1957 until 1966. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962.

Nkroful is a village and the capital of the Ellembelle District in the Western Region of Ghana, located near Axim in the Nzema East Municipal. The village is the birthplace of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology</span> Public university in Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), commonly known as UST, Tech or Kwame Tech, is a public university located in Kumasi, Ashanti region, Ghana. The university focuses on science and technology. It is the second public university established in the country, as well as the largest university in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

The Akan people of Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. These "day names" have further meanings concerning the soul and character of the person. Middle names have considerably more variety and can refer to their birth order, twin status, or an ancestor's middle name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum</span> Building, park and museum in Ghana

The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park is located in downtown Accra, the capital of Ghana. Over the years, the park has attracted visitors from around the world, with an annual count of approximately 98,000 individuals who visit to pay homage to Ghana's first President, and learn about his life and legacy. As one of the top 10 most visited sites in the country, the park holds immense cultural and historical significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ada Foah</span> District Capital in Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Ada Foah is a town on the southeast coast of Ghana, where the Volta River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The town is located along the Volta River, off of the Accra-Aflao motorway. Known for palm-lined beaches and estuary islands, Ada Foah is also the capital of the Ada East District and the seat of the District Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort James, Ghana</span> Fortified colonial trading post

Fort James is a fort located in Accra, Ghana. It was built by the Royal African Company of England (RAC) as a trading post for both gold and slaves in 1673, where it joined the Dutch Fort Crêvecœur (1649), and the Danish Fort Christiansborg (1652) along the coast of the then Gold Coast. Along with other castles and forts in Ghana, Fort James was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 because of its importance during the European colonial period.

The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization, based in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and others who may have been denied a fair trial. It guarantees the defense of anyone in Alabama in a death penalty case.

The history of African Americans in Ghana goes back to individuals such as American civil rights activist and writer W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), who settled in Ghana in the last years of his life and is buried in the capital, Accra. Since then, other African Americans who are descended from slaves imported from areas within the present-day jurisdiction of Ghana and neighboring states have applied for permanent resident status in Ghana. As of 2015, the number of African American residents has been estimated at 3,000 people, a large portion of whom live in Accra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Memorial for Peace and Justice</span> Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, commemorating victims of lynching in the US

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Memorial, is a memorial to commemorate the black victims of lynching in the United States. It is intended to focus on and acknowledge past racial terrorism and advocate for social justice in America. Founded by the non-profit Equal Justice Initiative, it opened in downtown Montgomery, Alabama on April 26, 2018.

Atta Kwami was a Ghanaian painter, printmaker, independent art historian and curator. He was educated and taught at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, and in the United Kingdom. He created works that improvise form and colour and speak to uniquely Ghanaian architecture and African strip-woven textiles, including those of the Kente, the Ewe and Asante of Ghana.

Mfantsiman Girls' Senior High School is an all-girls second cycle institution in Saltpond in the Central Region of Ghana. The school was founded in 1960 by Kwame Nkrumah, originally under the name Saltpond Girls' Secondary School. The school is also known as 'Syte'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicia Abban</span> Ghanaian photographer (1936/1937 – 2024)

Felicia Ewuraesi Abban was Ghana's first female professional photographer. She worked as a photographer for the country's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, for a number of years during the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Akoi-Jackson</span> Ghanaian artist and writer

Bernard Akoi–Jackson, is a Ghanaian academic, artist and writer. He is known for projects that are in continual metamorphosis. His art works are mostly performative, or pseudo-rituals. His writings are focused on the development of contemporary African, Ghanaian visual arts and culture in poetic and jovial manner. He is known as a proverbial jester using critical absurdity to move between installations, dance and poetry, video, and photography. He blends post-colonial African identities through transient and makeshift memorials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Mahama (artist)</span> Ghanaian artist and author

Ibrahim Mahama is a Ghanaian artist of monumental installations. He lives and works in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale, Ghana. He is the founder of Red Clay Studio, Savannah Centre for Contemporary Arts and Nkrumah Volini.

The Blank Slate Monument is a monument by Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo. The work has been described as "a visual representation of the evolution of the Black experience and struggle in America, as well as a tribute to African American history".

Kwame Akoto is a Ghanaian painter and artist. He lives in Kumasi, Ghana.

Galle Winston Kofi Dawson (1940–2021), was a Ghanaian modernist visual artist. His range of works included paintings, sculptures, texts, drawing, printmaking, and installation art.

References

  1. Miller, James H. (April 16, 2018). "Alabama memorial confronts America's racist history". The Art Newspaper . Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  2. McCool, Alice (6 Mar 2017). "Accra in the spotlight: colonial questions as Ghana's capital celebrates its 60th". The Guardian . Retrieved April 20, 2018.

Academic talks/lectures