The exhibition which is set to be running until March 2021, will see people troop in from all parts of the country and beyond. Speaking to the audience at the opening of the exhibition, Dr. Agyeman revealed that, his mum conceived him in Tamale and coming back to Tamale after several years to do an art exhibition especially a retrospective of his works is a humble feeling and he is grateful for such opportunity.
Giving the account of translating Akan proverbs into art, one may argue why the exhibition is rather brought to Tamale in the Northern Region. This is what Mr. Kwasi, one of the curators for the exhibition has to say;
“Bringing such an exhibition is not misplaced, since the Akan have a very long relationship with the Dagbamba people. Also, even though it is an Akan tradition he has worked on, Akutia can be translated into al languages – and almost all ethnic groups in Ghana have that form of proverbial and idiomatic expressions in their traditions”.
Mr. Kwasi
The artiste has been working as an educationist most of his life and has taught at both the senior high school level to the tertiary. Until his retirement in 2017, he held the position of Head of the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Ghana.
The exhibition, Akutia: Blindfolding the Sun and the Poetics of Peace (A Retrospective of Agyeman Ossei ‘Dota’), co-curated by Adwoa Amoah, Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, and Tracy Naa Koshie Thompson was opened in two folds at SCCA Tamale on 4th September and Red Clay Studios on 5th September 2020.
“Meeting Agyemang Osei is a great opportunity for me. I never heard of him until I was doing my masters. He happened to stage a play at the school of performing arts at the University of Ghana and I was mesmerized by how he handled his storyline, his lighting, background, etc. So sometimes I ask myself if I had met him during my undergraduate studies days” .
Mr. Selorm
