Story; Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria
On Friday 17th January 2020, Ibrahim Mahama, the Founder of Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art met with Sanatu Zambang team and the participants for the SCCA Tamale Art challenge.
The meeting was to formally introduce the team to him and also for him to get insight to what kind of art they did that will form part of their exhibition.
Ibrahim Mahama tasked the participants to look beyond just the normal drawing and painting for sale. But rather, they should let their environment helped them think outside the box.
According to Ibrahim Mahama artists needed to make art that challenges the very premises that art is built on. The notion that artists needed to be perfect in drawing human beings is not true.
Art is about creating some new. Art to Ibrahim Mahama is not supposed to make any sense. Art can be futuristic but without distorting the past.
At the end most of the meetings, the participants unlearn a lot of misconceptions about what art is, due to the structure of our educational system. He encouraged the team to learn more artists who have broken boundaries with the kind of art they do.
To start his business, his Mum gave him money and currently, he has turned one of the rooms in their house as a workshop to do his work.
Come 31st of January, Sanatu Zambang will treat people of Tamale to a great art exhibition dubbed at the forecourt of the office in Dungu, Tamale on the theme ‘’Memories of the past and future’’.
The event dubbed SCCA Tamale Art Challenge will see talented artists from the city to showcase their creation to people and we will also have a panel discussion on how we can develop the sector as part of our creative arts industry in the region.
‘’ A lot of people said I am lady why am I wasting my time doing art. I will end up painting on a store in the street.’’
At Sanatu Zambang, we believe in the creation and imaginative work of people and want to give everyone in the creative arts industry a chance to be heard, we do not reduce the creative arts industry to just music but a collective sector that has to do with crafts creation.
The SCCA Tamale Art Challenge is in collaboration with the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Arts. the center will be providing training and assisting the artists to come out with their creative work.
