After inviting itself in 2019, Ghana is inviting itself to the must-see contemporary art event again. Curated by Nana Oforiatta Ayim, Black Star: The Museum as Freedom exhibits artists Na Chainkua Reindorf, Afroscope and Diego Araúja for the Venice Biennale 2022 in the Ghanaian pavilion with installations.
At the Venice Biennale 2022, the Ghanaian pavilion will present an exhibition that borrows its title from the Ghanaian emblem and brings the image – the « phare de la liberté africaine » – to Marcus Garvey‘s Black Star Line and the development of Back-to-Africa, and advocates for pan-Africanism and hostility to imperialism.
This exhibition focuses on the new star groupings of this opportunity across time, innovation, and borders, and also builds on the curator’s concept of a mobile museum, visiting networks across Ghana in a co-curated and shared way.
Na Chainkua Reindorf‘s work examines the customs of mysterious, usually male social orders, creating her own legendary society of ladies, Mawu Nyonu; Afroscope thinks about the convergences between otherness, nature, and innovation; Diego Araúja reflects on the role of the Atlantic Ocean as a divider and unifier.
Nana Oforiatta Ayim argues that Ghana, in its 65th year of independence, is currently confronted with political, financial, social and information frameworks that are not designed for its unique situation. These frameworks created within its networks north of the millennia have been considered second rate to those that the predominant powers call general.
As we grow and outgrow the inadequate frameworks, new, as yet uncharacterized frameworks that draw on rich narratives, not with nostalgia but rather with the wisdom of knowledge of the past and experience, are being formed.
