A Journey to Ghana, August 2005
I am home, with visions of Nungua (our Ghanaian neighborhood) still dancing in my head. Aba House, where we lived and taught and ate and danced, was our center - a place filled with the art created by both visiting and local artists, and even with the artists themselves - who were in and out all the time, just visiting, taking classes, bringing new work to the gallery, or coming to do some community drumming and singing. The yard filled with activities - our classes (papermaking, making books, occasional baskets) as well as tie-dye, batik and Adinkra workshops. Even a pet monkey.
Out our gates and into the yards of our neighbors. There was a lot of extreme poverty. Overwhelming poverty. No water, no sewer, no electricity. Families living together in one small room, struggling to find enough money for food, enough money for school fees. --- Despite all this (and I could go on and on), these people have a lot of positives in their lives. They have a strong social group and a strong culture. They were always friendly and kind to us --- even if they did talk and laugh about us in their local dialects.
Down one short path and onto the main street--- a packed dirt road, dusty, cluttered with trash, roaming herds of goats, sheep, and chickens, street stalls lining both sides selling anything you could imagine (from boiled groundnuts (peanuts) to beautiful fabrics to coffins shaped like Mercedes. Music blaring, people talking and laughing, slowly strolling. Ghana time. Most things being carried on their heads - in boxes or baskets or bowls. The more time we spent there, the more people we knew who called to us in greeting. Or in the case of the kids, inviting themselves along as our escorts.
We quickly learned to really appreciate what we had. The cool trickle of water that was our daily shower. (At least we had one!!!) A dirt yard that was swept clean every morning. The fresh fruit that was always available - pineapples, mangoes, paw paws. The incredibly wonderful dinners that were cooked for us at Aba House by Talk True -- who dispersed his (often questionable) wisdoms along with his food. Our driver Chuku - who bargained ruthlessly for us, and escorted us around to places we never would have gone.
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The most wonderful thing of all was the kids. Our yard was full of the local kids - up to about 30 of them --- ages 3 -16. The girls carrying younger children on their backs. Impromptu singing and dancing. They were thrilled to help make paper, to learn to make books, to use the mortar and pestle to make paper pulp, instead of fufu or banku, traditional foods. It was not all easy - there was petty theft, fights, some chaos -- but it was all worth it for the incredibly great times we spent with them. They are the reason I will return.
I worked with Marta and Shawn on our project, starting to set up a paper factory. They are both papermakers and book artists. Marta is a friend from Australia; Shawn joined us from Chicago. We worked well together. It was not according to Plan A, or even Plan B.... but it was started. More work is needed, but we all feel that we had a great start. For our gala opening party, we were selling bowls, books, and cards from paper that we made using recycled and local vegetable fibers, often stamped with traditional Adinkra stamps and dyes. There was a lot of pride.
Aba (Ellie Schimelman) started Aba House several years ago, as Cross Cultural Collaboratives. Using art as a common ground, she wanted to introduce people of different cultures, wanted the visitors to become a part of the Ghanaian community. Although there are many frustrations for her, I think that she is wildly successful.
I worked with Marta and Shawn on our project, starting to set up a paper factory. They are both papermakers and book artists. Marta is a friend from Australia; Shawn joined us from Chicago. We worked well together. It was not according to Plan A, or even Plan B.... but it was started. More work is needed, but we all feel that we had a great start. For our gala opening party, we were selling bowls, books, and cards from paper that we made using recycled and local vegetable fibers, often stamped with traditional Adinkra stamps and dyes. There was a lot of pride.
Aba (Ellie Schimelman) started Aba House several years ago, as Cross Cultural Collaboratives. Using art as a common ground, she wanted to introduce people of different cultures, wanted the visitors to become a part of the Ghanaian community. Although there are many frustrations for her, I think that she is wildly successful.