Owusu Panin Kwame Baah, Dickson Adom, Awuni Samuel, Ama Fening Peggy, Nicholas Addo Tetteh (2023)

Various techniques are used by jewellers in Ghana in depositing a film of gold on surfaces of jewellery items. Although traditional goldplating has and continues to chalk a high level of excellence in jewellery making in Ghana, little documentation has been done on it. While traditional goldplating has been practiced for decades in Ghana, the introduction of electroplating into jewellery in Ghana is downplaying its relevance. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to find out how indigenous Asante goldplating technique is done in Ghana. The study adopted the use of an art-based research design under the qualitative research approach where personal interviews, photographs, and participatory observation were used for collecting qualitative data from 19 purposively sampled Asante’s goldsmiths at Manhyia and Ayeduase in Kumasi, Ghana using expert sampling. The findings of the study have shown that traditional gold plating is an aesthetically pleasing, low cost and efficient technique used by the Asante goldsmiths that has not lost its worth. The study contends that skills and knowledge in traditional goldplating should be passed on from goldsmiths to jewellers and other apprentices who are interested in learning the craft. This would help preserve and promote this rich cultural craft for posterity.

Dickson Adom, Emmanuel Jewel Peprah Mensah & Gloria Esi Kportufe (2023)

Palace museums and shrine houses play a crucial role in reconstructing the histories and cultures of people in specific communities. In a broader perspective, palace museums and shrine houses recount the origin, identity, economic and warfare prowess as well as the material culture of a people (Shalima, 2019). Shrine houses are typical to many indigenous Ghanaian communities. However, due to the inter-ethnic wars and the captivation of kingdoms in the colonial era as well as the influx of Christianity, Islam and other foreign religions, most of these shrines are non-existent (Agbiji & Swart, 2015). For instance, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, there are about ten (10) of these shrines scattered across the region that have been refurbished and inscribed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage List. Besease, Adwinase (Patakro Bonsam), Asawase, Adako Jachie, Bodwease, Abirim, Kentinkrono, Saaman, Asenemanso and Kenyasi Tano Shrines have preserved the spiritual embodiments of these people. The Tano god, according to oral history, is the most revered god among the Asante people, hence a Tano Shrine was found in every community in the Asante Kingdom of Ghana. This is typical in the case of Bodwease where both the shrine and palace museum are opened to visitors. These shrines were believed to inhabit potent spiritual powers and were held in high esteem as well as revered in these communities. They served as a spiritual backbone for the chiefs, hence, these shrine houses are situated close to the palaces of these towns.

Kennedy Asenso & Bismark Yeboah Boasu (2023)

Health risk has received global attention over the years following the socio-economic threats it continuously imposes on people’s livelihoods in both developed and developing countries. In Africa and Ghana to be specific, many continue to use Art as a therapy to manage their health risks though, only a little has been documented in terms of its efficacy. Based on interpretivist’s philosophy, this study employed a qualitative research approach with a descriptive design to assess the efficacy of artistic natural emotional surgery for health risks management in Ghana. In addition to obtrusive observation, personal interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted for respondents who were respectively selected through convenience (n=50) and homogenous purposive (n=10) sampling techniques. The study revealed that artistic natural emotional surgery phenomena are efficacious in releasing the stress of people after its assessment. It was, however, discovered that the potency of artistic emotional surgery has not received much attention it needed. The study, therefore, recommends that the emotional surgery inventor (R. G. Thompson) should collaborate with artists, art therapists, the Ministry of Health, and healthcare professionals to integrate artistic natural emotional surgery into existing treatment plans for various restorations, and accordingly, sensitise the general public about the potential benefits of artistic natural emotional surgery. 

Timothy Mintson, Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel & Ebenezer Acquah (2023)

The study investigated the major fashion trends that have characterised Dipo rite from 1950 to 2019. The narrative and descriptive research designs, under the qualitative approach, were used to investigate the major Dipo dress fashion trends. The sample for the study comprised of four (4) respondents consisting of two (2) traditional rulers knowledgeable in Dipo traditions and customs and have experienced the Dipo rite for at least two decades; one (1) opinion leader, and one (1) photographer who has been a paparazzi during Dipo rites for more than a decade. Interview and non-participant observation constituted the data collection instruments while thematic and descriptive analysis were the analytical tools used. The suboe (red fabric), Kraala (white fabric), wax print and kente Fabrics are some of such materials that signal the major Krobo Dipo dress fashion trends. The dominant presence of the Euro-Christian and Islamic ideological infiltration and stereotyping of the Dipo rite of passage in Ghana has been unsuccessful in depleting Dipo dress cultural practice. Four major stages of Dipo rites were identified with each displaying an array of Dipo dress fashions in observance of the rite. They are the tying of string (sɔni), cleansing initiation (wearing of red loincloth), victory initiation (wearing of white loincloth), and dress-ups (Newuom and kawɔ). The wearing of variations of red and white loincloth, and dress-ups (Newuom and kawɔ) that characterised the last three stages of Dipo rite, revealed interesting stylistic Dipo fashion trends that serve as sources of inspiration for fashion designing. These fashion trends are predominately wraparound with accessories to match. Wax print fabrics were dominant fabrics used by initiates during the first dress-up called Newuom while Kente dominated in use for Kawↄ. The flamboyant public display of Dipo contemporary fashion is undoubtedly a unique advertising platform that textile manufacturing companies in Ghana should take advantage of to market their products. 

Samuel Nortey, Edwin K. Bodjawah & Robert Amoanyi (2023)

This article discusses Ghanaian ceramic art and the critical interventions that are driving an emerging contemporary ceramic practice. Ghanaian ceramic art, until a decade ago (from 2011), have had a stagnant traditional practice and has struggled to be seen, heard and valued within local and global contemporary art discourse. Reviews and reforms of art education have provided critical interventions to addressing this issue. Discussing the works of Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng, Eugene Ofori Agyei, Frederick Ebenezer Okai, Alex Awuku and a few other Ghanaian traditional artists, we reveal how these young Ghanaian contemporary ceramic artists are navigating their path to creating new artistic identities and pushing the boundaries of conventional Ghanaian ceramics, questioning stereotyping and pigeonholing. These developments also point to the meaningful expansion of ceramics in contemporary art education more generally. 

Abraham Agbeshie, Agbeyewornu Kofi Kemevor & Alex Darpoh (2023)

This study identified and discussed how some contemporary Ghanaian painters have so much interest in vintage elements. The descriptive research method was used as a qualitative inquiry for this study. The expert type of purposive sampling method was employed to select five contemporary Ghanaian painters (Brother Owusu-Ankomah, Patrick Tagoe-Turkson, Elijah Sofo, Emmanuel Adiamah, and Papa Kofi Kum-Essoun) whose artworks focused on vintage elements in material content and subject matter. The study used direct observation and unstructured interviews to collect data. Thus, the data were analysed into an illustrative description using the visual analysis tool. The thoughts of interest of the five contemporary Ghanaian painters revealed that the incorporation of vintage subjects helped communicate their metaphysical ideas in an artistic context. The study argues that vintage elements are rife in Ghana and should not only be seen as material content but as scenic and thematic subjects for contemporary Ghanaian painting. It is, therefore, recommended that the thoughts and usage of vintage elements in the art of painting by the five contemporary Ghanaian painters (Brother Owusu-Ankomah, Patrick Tagoe-Turkson, Elijah Sofo, Emmanuel Adiamah, and Papa Kofi Kum-Essoun) should be continued to inspire other contemporary Ghanaian painters including the upcoming contemporary Ghanaian artists to also adopt vintage elements in their paintings to help communicate their metaphysical ideas into artistic contexts. 

The paper sought to identify and examine the works of selected contemporary Ghanaian artists who incorporate Akan adinkra symbols into their paintings to portray Africanism. The study employed the qualitative case study research method using snowball sampling to select three artists and their works which are heavily laden with Akan adinkra symbols. Data were obtained through interviews, observation, review of documents and examination of artefacts. Content analysis was used in analysing the data. The findings indicate that all three artists have distinctive aesthetic significance for incorporating Akan adinkra symbols in their works. They consistently and vigorously engaged in incorporating adinkra symbols into their artistic productions and exposes the overwhelming sacred symbolism of these traditional symbols. It is recommended that other upcoming Ghanaian contemporary artists should inculcate Ghanaian traditional symbols and images into their artistic practices and write extensively on their works.

Trading metal waste, especially discarded metals and electronic waste (e-waste), is an economic quest for some people in Ghana. Metal scavengers, collectors, and processors have used scrap metals for commercial and practical purposes. However, there seem to be very little scholarly writing on the aesthetic values of artworks created out of metal waste. The study sought to analyse the aesthetic values of Evans Donkor’s scrap metal bull sculpture composed of automobile parts. The study adopted a descriptive research design under the qualitative research approach. The study was centred on the scrap metal bull sculpture produced by Evans Donkor in 2015. The expert purposive sampling technique was adopted to gather data from art experts on the creation of the scrap metal bull sculpture. Data were analysed with the interpretive method as the discussion revealed that there were subjective values embodied in the composed scrap metal bull sculpture titled ‘Struggle for Perfection’ exhibited at the Department of Art Education, UEW, Winneba-Ghana. The study concludes that the creativity of Evans Donkor and his culmination of aesthetic understanding of metal waste into artwork strengthen art practice as well as managing the environmental challenges by getting into scrap metals as an alternative material for sculpture.

Environmental art remains one of the suitable advocacy strategies to ensure the preservation and conservation of the natural environment for human posterity due to its effective awareness creation. It is against this backdrop that the pioneering contemporary Ghanaian Visual artists and their succeeding generation of artists have produced several Visual artworks for the promotion of environmental conservation in Ghana. However, their efforts have remained largely undocumented and could be misconstrued. This qualitative case study sought to aesthetically reveal the immense contributions of selected paintings of Ablade Glover toward environmental conservation in Ghana. Five paintings of Ablade Glover namely; Accra Floods, Slumscape, Sunrise, Red Forest, and Forest were purposively sampled with data collected through semi-structured interviews and unstructured observation. The study, through visual and descriptive analyses, found that the five aestheticised paintings of Ablade Glover are environmentally related advocacy-artefacts that seek to (re)create the awareness of city dwellers, urban planning authorities, and agencies about: the deadly seasonal disasters (floods) in Ghanaian cities (Accra); the presence of slums and their associated insanitary/health issues in Ghanaian cities (Accra), and other human unfriendly acts toward the natural environment. While Glover is encouraged to produce more of such environmentally-related paintings, the study recommends further aesthetical studies to be conducted on similar environmentally-related Visual Arts produced by Ghanaian Visual artists to decode their intended advocacy meanings to city dwellers, urban planning authorities, and the entirety of the Ghanaian populace. This stands to minimise and/or avert the seasonal floods in Ghanaian cities (Accra); deal with slums and their insanitary issues in Ghanaian cities (Accra) and generally protect the natural environment for posterity.