Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh
Kwasi Blog
Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh
oheneayeh@gmail.com | www.iubeezy.wordpress.com
Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh Bio (B. 1986)
Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh lives in Ghana. Using installation, performance, site-specific and socially engaged projects Ohene-Ayeh explores ambiguities in Accra’s contemporary sign systems and social identity. Through design, building, fabrication and construction he assesses the built environment and how ephemeral identities are conferred on us when we move through physical space – interior and outdoor environments. He received his BFA (Painting) degree from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2009. His work has featured in exhibitions at the Nubuke Foundation gallery, Chale Wote Street Art Festival and the W.E.B Du Bois Center in Accra. He also participated in a group OFF exhibition during the 11th Dak’Art Biennale in Senegal titled “Dear Dakar,” in 2014. Ohene-Ayeh is a member of Exit Frame – an artists collective based in Accra whose public art projects, writing and publications raise pertinent questions on contemporary art practice with focus on Ghana. He has participated in workshops and residencies including the 2013 “Du Bois In Our Time” sound and video art workshop organized by Nubuke Foundation in collaboration with University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachussets Amherst, Uzora Projects and VAN Lagos, Nigeria with Emeka Ogboh as facilitator, Global Crit Clinic (Senegal and Accra) – a professional development clinic based in the Fine Arts pedagogical studio critique facilitated by artist Kianga Ford, and the 4th CCA – Lagos Àsìkò International Art School program in Senegal. He is currently the co-director for Ehalakasa — a monthly event that intersects spoken word with music, dance and theatre. The event partners with the Foundation for Contemporary Art, Ghana (FCA) and has successfully integrated poets into the larger artists’ community in Accra. He has planned and organized public art events with Accra [dot] Alt and FCA such as Chale Wote Street Art Festival (2014) and the Ehalakasa Festival (2013 & 2014) in Accra, Ghana.
Work in Cali
Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh is a Ghanaian artist on a four-week residency program at Lugar a Dudas, Colombia in December 2014 supported by Stitching DOEN.
His project "Untitled... (3) [Letter To The Sky]" deals with the aggressive and emotional [re]construction of colonial memories. He uses the Iglesia La Merced complex (the oldest building in Santiago de Cali and also the place where the city was founded) as the site to explore the religious, ethnographic and political history of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, in similitude with his own country's narrative of colonialism.
Galería:
En cali, Kwesi abrió su estudio junto a Adrianna Wallis de Francia y Juliana Góngora de Bógota (Link):
Juliana Góngora, Adrianna Wallis y Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, abordan la memoria desde diferentes posturas, relacionándola con la historia, la arqueología, el olvido y el colonialismo, cada uno con una interesante reflexión. Juliana Góngora presentará objetos que reinterpretan arqueológicamente la historia de una antigua casa del centro de la ciudad construida en 1929 y demolida recientemente para hacer un parqueadero. La artista Adrianna Wallis presentará los varios capítulos de su estancia vibrante en Cali, guiada por su deseo de hacer vivir la memoria y Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh con su proyecto "Prison Anxieties Project" (Proyecto ansiedades de prisión) Unirá andamios metálicos a edificios históricos / coloniales en la ciudad de Cali para preguntar acerca del uso y presencia de este material austero en entornos públicos y funcionales de San Antonio y el centro.
