Image Courtesy of Joseph Awuah-Darko.
“A Bed of Roses” speaks not only to deeply vulnerable moments in Awuah-Darko’s life, but also represents a marked pivot from his role as Founder and Director of Noldor Art Residency and President of The Institute Museum of Ghana; towards reintroducing himself to the world as an artist, first and foremost.
Growing up in Accra, Awuah-Darko dates his first memories of considering himself an artist to as early as age 7, recalling, “I was always drawing on my grandmother’s telephone paper, a rare type of paper with a very specific texture, made out of elephant dung”. Against the backdrop of a deeply finance-based family, growing up he pored over books on el Anatsui, Ibrahim Salahi and Malick Sibidé, reflecting that learning about art, collecting or indeed practising it felt like “an isolated interest”.
It wasn’t until a research project on volunteerism in Agbogbloshie with photographer Fabrice Monteiro, that he began to consider himself “more seriously as a contemporary artist”. He reflects, “I began creating sculptures from up-cycled materials, and after my work debuted with Gallery 1957, my practice continued to grow exponentially.”
On moving from the theory of art, to the practice of setting up a space like Noldor Art Residency; a programme dedicated to supporting emerging artists in Ghana, Awuah-Darko explains, “after a dramatic Covid-19 repatriation flight from London to Accra, I realised I could no longer be passively involved in the lives of contemporary artists simply through collecting.” Wanting to push past the notion of the “sanitised gallery space”, Awuah-Darko founded the residency in November 2020 as a way to “meaningfully uplift artists”. Starting with inaugural artist Emmanuel Taku, the programme has grown to support a unique roster of artists ever since.
Image Courtesy of Joseph Awuah-Darko.
While supporting other artists through Noldor has been a “fulfilling experience”, Awuah-Darko explains his pivot back to his personal artistic practice had always been part of the plan. He reflects, “having a bird’s eye view on how to support emerging practitioners develop their practice meant that when the time was right, I knew I could come back to it to help develop my own.” The creative “itch” to refocus this energy inwards came after a trip to the Dakar Biennale, where the concept of “orishas” kept coming back to him through sketches. These spirits have since been painted and rendered to life in the form of “Sentinels” as part of “A Bed of Roses”, “avatars” that play out his battle with depression, questions of identity and sexuality.
On choosing to work with weaving techniques, Awuah-Darko explains that after a trip to Northern Ghana and learning from weaving communities there, he was inspired by the “innately rich texture and dialogue” of woven materials. Furthermore, the incorporation of pink satin roses in this collection, is a nod to his “obsession” with the pink roses of his grandmother’s garden, as well as a reference to the garden as a place of solace. Awuah-Darko expands, “gardening was a form of therapy for me during the pandemic, and during dark, depressive moments of my life. Referencing the garden as a place of solace in my work, ties together my upbringing, my battle with depression and experience navigating and weaving through this world as a Black African individual.”
The work was first shown at The Mix, Accra, and is set to travel to Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, and The Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami in early 2023. Notably, part of the collection will go towards the museum archive at the Institute Museum of Ghana, as part of Awuah-Darko’s effort to see that artwork made Ghanaian’s remains in Ghana. In redefining himself as an artist and taking a more hands off approach to running a residency, Awuah-Darko maintains that whether it be directing a residency or working on his own body of work, making art still remains at the core of his being. “I don’t see it as an either-or; I think building a safe space for critical liberation for artists, is in and of itself, an artform.”