Founded in 1992 to promote cultural study and sustainable development in West Africa, the Kokrobitey Institute outside Accra, Ghana offers an inspiring welcome to visitors from around the world. The tranquil seaside campus served as home base for 25 RISD students in a 2008 Wintersession course led by Bolaji Campbell, an assistant professor of the History of Art + Visual Culture who specializes in the arts of Africa and the African Diaspora. Through a program of artist demonstrations, lectures, field trips, workshops and independent research, students explored the history and culture of Ghana, concentrating on visual communication systems, traditional design and the built environment.
Ghanaian culture is rich in artistic tradition and non-verbal communication systems, making it a fascinating milieu for students of art and design, says Campbell. Local artisans introduced the RISD group to a variety of practices, both traditional and contemporary, including glass bead making (from recycled bottles), dyeing with natural pigments, fabric stamping and basket weaving. Lectures and museum visits focused on the cultural significance of Adinkra, an ancient communication system based on symbols rather than letters; Kente, the brightly colored woven fabric associated with royalty and sacred occasions; gold-weights once used in trade; and linguist staffs, historical symbols of high rank in the Akan court.
Engaging in independent study and hands-on practice during the final stage of their three-week visit, Campbell’s students focused on traditions that appealed to their curiosity and aesthetics. Along the way, many discovered that study of art practices led them to broader cultural insights. Alison Kizu-Blair [RISD ’09, Painting] worked alongside a professional basket weaver to learn the intricacies of his craft. Once she had gained some mastery of the difficult technique, she reflected that it was a “refreshing and wonderful experience to participate in a largely oral culture, and to learn a craft that I will remember for a long time because it was drilled into me by repetition.” Miles Stemper [RISD ’09, Painting] researched the Adinkra symbol system and came up with a new set of visual icons representing his experience of Ghanaian culture. Startled by the prevalence of Christianity, the consumerism of tourists and threats to the natural environment, he invented symbols that expressed his mixed feelings about Ghana’s hybrid culture — a blend of ancient tradition and the aftermath of European imperialism and exploitation.
Like many of the RISD travelers, Lauren Diliberto [RISD ’09, Film/Animation/Video] found that exploring Ghanaian culture through a visual lens “opened my eyes to a different way of seeing and working.” The trip was packed with once-in-a-lifetime experiences: attending an Africa’s Cup soccer game, where Ghana beat Morocco; dancing with students at a school for the deaf; visiting Elmina Castle, a colonial palace that once held captives destined for slave ships. In addition to the artisans they got to know and the specific crafts they learned, students also gained new perspective on the complex interplay between world societies — and perhaps most importantly, valuable insight into the cultural meanings of their own art practices.
