Ghanaian Artist Bright Ackwerh Discusses His Influences, Art in Accra and How Art and the Imagination Impact Each Other.
My name is Kekle, (which translates as Bright in the English language) Tetteh Ackwerh. I would best describe myself as an emerging artist from Ghana.
Beyond creating objects or making gestures we may readily or not categorize as “Art” in the traditional sense, I have always been interested in asking questions. I grew up in a home where our Father was the unquestionable head, so I had very strict rules to live by. What I do now could be classified as a reaction to my own upbringing and the many other rules society expects me to follow and live by. Some of my work has been featured in exhibitions but most of my work is displayed on social media. I have had to learn a lot and read some materials on art and the thoughts that initiate the various kinds of dialogue art pushes so as to keep abreast of the interesting developments in the art world. It hasn’t been easy but I am not where I was last year so I would say I have and continue to make progress.
The illustrations I make are very personal pieces. There is this charged imaginary line between what is realistic and what is portrayed by the mainstream channels, and this space is where most of my illustration series cross. I always try to question what the mainstream portrays if I see its overall effects to be adverse. My work is influenced by hip hop music, Afrocentricity, socio-cultural philosophies, local mythology…the list is endless. I could also make a list of artists whose own experiments rub me positively but that’s a story for another day.
Accra, much like the rest of the world, has always had its art production scene so it would be an undoing to call it ‘emerging’. Recent readings on the tag make it denote some sense of negativity I would not like to push. The art production in this part of the world has always been there and buzzing actively in its own right. The only downside would be its exclusion from the positive grand narratives of the mainstream. In recent years, art exhibitions and fairs have become mainstays on the calendars of cultural events in Ghana and we have had good representation at some of the biggest and most prestigious art events in the world.
In Accra, there are galleries spread all over town but in my opinion the best (most exciting) work you can find around these parts is in the ‘streets’. The curious experiments of emerging artists are always the most refreshing because once an artist becomes successful (or institutionalized) you tend to see the same kind of work from them all the time.
Philosophy, philosophy… I don’t like to put tags on myself and my work but if there is a mantra I live and work by it would be to question everything I encounter. The questioning of course comes in the form of creating thought-provoking art.
The future for me is now. If the space we live in is responsible for inspiring our creativity then we must do well to send back some of the positive energy we generate from the exchange we have with it. The various strategies artists work with allows for more sensitive research which could provide more effective solutions for the problems we face in the world today. I hope the interrogations I make with my work today serve as interesting imaginaries for the people who encounter it to navigate the world with.
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