Arts In The Garden

By Stephen K. Effah
Saturday, 10 May 2008

THE Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Nicholas Lang, on Wednesday hosted some art works of four renowned African contemporary artists at his maiden arts exhibition held at his residence in Accra.

Dubbed: "Arts in the Garden," the exhibition, the second of which is to be held next year, forms part of the ambassador’s quest to promote young but less known contemporary Ghanaian artists in order for them to market their works.

The exhibition featured works on the Ghanaian culture, environment and everyday situations and were by Professor Ablade Glover of Artists Alliance Gallery, Kofi Agor-sor and Wiz Kudowor, all from Ghana, and Joseph Ogunsunlade Kolawole, a Nigerian living in Ghana.

The four artists have in their various capacities and specialities, gained remarkable reputation that goes beyond their borders to Europe,Asia and America, and have mounted and participated in various international exhibitions.

Mr Lang, who described himself as an ardent contemporary art fan, told Times Weekend that his bid to support young unknown artists stemmed from the great potential they have.

He explained that although his support will not be monetary, he would create platforms for young contemporary artists in the country to showcase and market their works.

He observed that Ghanaians are not much conversant with contemproary arts, and therefore have not shown much interest in it, as is the case in Europe and elsewhere, noting that this has made it "difficult to make a living out of their works."

The Ambassador said perhaps, most people in the country do not enjoy contemporary arts because they do not understand or get the idea behind those works by the artists.

Mr Lang described Ghanaian artists as "open minded," whose works he sees to be of international standards, saying "their works are of a very high standard and they match what you see elsewhere".

He said that it is important that one feels art work,understands it and becomes part of it, adding that "there is more behind art, thus the ordinary works we see", saying "art works are self-evident".

A. F. Spinnler, a Swiss and admirer of African contemporary art, underscored the high quality standards of art works from Ghana and Africa as a whole, but said the artists have a huge task of marketing their work in the competitive America and Europe markets.

With more than 150 contemporary art collections in his house, Mr.Spinnler outdoored a book focusing on a time window from 1995 to 2005 paintings from five and 32 artists in Ghana and Nigeria respectivly.

He said that he is "fascinated by Ghana, its people, and especially its arts".