Growing New Talent
As a pathway for growing new talent and capacity development within the industry, the programme-career development initiative offers selected artist(s) guidance and mentorship, workshops, discussions, gallery admin, and a critique clinic. All these strengthen practice, research, production of art, and market knowledge and equips artists with the skills to promote their career and build confidence.
Past YGAs
YGA 2020: Lois Arde-Acquah and Theresa Ankomah
YGA 2021: Cecilia Lamptey Botchway
YGA 2023: Simon Bowman Jr.
Young
Ghanaian
Artists.
The Nubuke Foundation developed the Young Ghanaian Artist (YGA) programme to enhance the artistic practice of new and emerging contemporary young artists (23 - 30) in Ghana.The Young Ghanaian Artist (YGA) Programme has since its inception provided a nurturing and supportive environment for artistic practice and ideas to be developed and honed.
YGA Conversations
A huge part of the YGA programme is the element of conversation. Through YGA Conversations, alumni and current participants of the programme converse and share their thoughts on different topics.
–– Join
Children’s Workshops
The Foundation organises workshops with sessions on art, music, crafts, and poetry for students in the community. Artist visits have also featured prominently, with artists volunteering to hold workshops for the children.
These workshops have served as grounds/space for the discovery of a love for and investment in learning about African arts, literature, and culture.
Communities
From Children to Collectives
As an institution that understands the importance of community, Nubuke Foundation prioritises the locality we find ourselves in and are committed to investing in it.
Nubuke Foundation considers itself a member of the communities around us and is dedicated to supporting and uplifting these communities.
Reading
Club
The Nubuke Foundation's Container Library is home to a reading club that has greatly impacted the reading skills and confidence of participating students. Hosted on Fridays, these sessions focus on developing verbal confidence and have been instrumental in improving access and interest in African literature. The library is stocked with books and catalogues on various topics including Art.
We welcome donations to our growing collection.
Cecelia Lamptey-Botchway
Cecelia Lamptey-Botchway is a versatile painter whose interested in relationships between painting and movement. One of the ways she explores this intersection is through the study of dance. In her work, Cecilia explores the parallels between these two forms of expressions by employing motifs and materials that make motion tactile. Her recent experiments with mopping wool have been particularly iconic and key in augmenting the distinctiveness of her works.
Painting
Na Chainkua Reindorf
Na Chainkua Reindorf is primarily interested in the materiality of textiles and fibers and the forms with which they can be used to create narratives. Her work is created through an African and feminist lens and, in its multiple manifestations, constantly addresses the female body and its particular contextual relationship with textiles and fibers.
Painting
Sculpture
Sculpture
AFROSCOPE
AFROSCOPE (Isaac Nana Opoku) has been practicing as a creative professional for over decade, working as a multidisciplinary artist and designer and as a social entrepreneur.
In his work he explores a range of themes including decolonization, oneness, information overload, and most recently the concept of deep adaptation. He engages with these topics in very experimental and speculative ways, and utilizes both digital technologies and traditional analog mediums in his process.
Painting
Sculpture
Installation
Design
Sculpture
Installation
Design
Patrick
Tagoe-Turkson
Patrick Tagoe-Turkson is a mixed media artist who graduated from KNUST department of painting and sculpture in 2003. He immediately started working there as a teaching assistant in the said department. In 2005, he held the Kumasi art audience captive with his Faces and Phases at Alliance Francais in Kumasi. Tagoe-Turkson quickly made a name for himself exhibiting internationally, in places such as the contemporary art museum in Casoria in Naples, Italy.
Sculpture
Installation
Installation
Joseph Abbey
Joseph Abbey-Mensah from Ghana, is a graduate from the University of Ghana. Sarf Bort is a pseudonym for his art. He’s from a community that consists of rich tradition and culture, so art has always been a part of upbringing. He grew a fond interest in expressing his imaginations through pictures and it has been one of his channels ever since, He views each picture he creates like a manifestation, it is like seeing magic occur in real time because it first begins as a thought that gathers several ideas and presents itself in his mind’s eye and then after he’s able to see it manifest in real life through photography.
Painting
Sculpture
Sculpture
22 March 2024 – 7 May 2024
HISTORY, WE NEED TO TALK!
CONTESTED DESIRES: Constructive Dialogues (CDCD) Open Call
Join the conversation: exploring colonial heritage through art
Embark on a transformative journey with CONTESTED DESIRES: Constructive Dialogues (CDCD).
Are you a visual artist based in Ghana passionate about unravelling the layers of our shared colonial past and its impact on contemporary culture? This is your chance to be part of a groundbreaking transnational initiative funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
About CDCD
Step into a realm of exploration where artists, cultural organisations, and communities come together to delve into the complexities of our colonial legacy. Contested Desires: Constructive Dialogues is a pioneering transnational project, consisting of 19 global partners, aiming to unravel the influence of our shared colonial past on cultural identities today. From Italy to Ghana, Tunisia to the UK, CDCD discovers the connections between our past and present, fostering dialogue and understanding across diverse perspectives.
What we offer
● An immersive experience with international residencies, exhibitions, and knowledge exchange workshops to take place between September 2024 and November 2026 (artists are expected to participate fully in the program).
● Project fee, as specified in the call (plus covered travel, accommodations, per diems, and production materials).
Eligibility
This Open Call is to select two artists based in Ghana based on:
● Quality of artistic practice
● Quality of response to the questions in the application form
● Experience of participatory and socially engaged practice
● Experience of collaboration with other artists and across sectors
● Demonstrable interest in the role of contemporary arts in heritage contexts, with reference to the themes of the programme
Equity, diversity and equality
● We seek to ensure that no present or potential artist or project participant is treated less favourably than another on grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, disability, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, age, social class or offending background.
● While our ambition is to shape an open, accessible project, we also acknowledge that the nature of this project involves extended periods of travel, which may present barriers to participation.
● If you have access requirements to enable you to participate in the CDCD programme you will be able to identify this in the application form. If you need access support to be able to make your application, please contact info@nubukefoundation.org.
Sustainable art vision
The CDCD project prioritizes environmental sustainability through self-regulatory ethical guidelines, alignment with global standards like the Sustainability Development Goals, and promoting eco-philosophy for artistic inspiration. The project monitors and assesses adherence to ethical guidelines while enhancing awareness of the interconnectedness between art and sustainability.
Artforms
Participatory and socially engaged visual arts practices. Selected artists will be encouraged to create ephemeral and mobile works that are environmentally conscious and that can be adapted to be site-specific to each place.
How to apply:
Visit the link below to access the application form and take your first step toward joining CDCD's transformative journey:
Artist Brief, Ghana (Nubuke Foundation)
Application Deadline: May 7, 2024
Embrace this opportunity to challenge the narratives of the past and co-create a more inclusive future through art. We're committed to fostering equity, diversity, and equality in every aspect of our project.
For updates and other opportunities, follow us on https://www.instagram.com/contesteddesires/ and https://www.facebook.com/contesteddesires/
#ContestedDesires #ArtForChange #DecolonizeCulture #Europe #Colonialism #Community #CapacityBuilding #Dialogue
Arts Collaboratory
Nubuke Foundation is a member of Arts Collaboratory (AC), a radical experiment in exploring the potentiality of art and social transformation.
This translocal ecosystem consists of 25 diverse organisations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, focused on art practices, processes of social change, and working with broader communities beyond artistic domains.
AWA
The AWA (Art West Africa) consortium, comprising the Koré Centre in Ségou and Institut Francaise, is the managing body for the implementation of the "ACP-EU Culture Programme: support for the Culture and Creation in West Africa- AWA." The consortium was selected by the EU and The Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States to distribute funding to the creative and cultural industries of West Africa.
Nubuke Foundation's Centre for Clay and Textiles in Wa is a beneficiary of this creative and cultural support.
Google Arts and Culture*
British Council Digital Collaboration Fund
The Nubuke Foundation in Ghana, with Assemble in the UK, and the Textile Department at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria, partnered on a digital project aimed at creating a multicultural learning community in close collaboration with artists and crafts(wo)men to stimulate creative exchanges of artisanal and contemporary art practices. In addition, the project focused on collating, disseminating, and further developing indigenous knowledge and skill to foster its preservation and promising passage into the future.
With extensive documentation of what is already taking place in Wa ongoing, the next step is to build online and digital tools to exchange design ideas between makers in Ghana, the UK, and beyond, and long term we imagine residency programmes and new globally marketable products.
We believe in preserving existing knowledge and sustaining local communities economically. The archive resulting from this will be an open, de-colonial, non-judgemental, flexible place of exchange.
Website