by Anthony R. Green

The main purpose of my trip is to attend the perfocraze International Artist Residency (pIAR), directed by the incredible performance artist Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, better known as crazinisT artisT. Based in Kumasi, this residency launched in 2018, but had its official opening in January 2019. Since, it has hosted a myriad of artists of various different practices, including local artists, African artists, and artists outside of Africa. The projects that have been launched here have a wide range, from abstract, experimental art to radical, political art. crazinsT artisT herself has a strong, respected history of controversial art that has changed the fabric of contemporary art in Ghana and abroad. She runs this residency bringing knowledge from her numerous international experiences in Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, the United States, and more. Even though my stay at pIAR has been quite short, the amount of education and growth I have received from crazinisT artisT, the other residents and staff, and being here in Kumasi has been immense. 

​Photo: En route to Kumasi on the V.I.P. Bus
 
I opted for a 5-hour bus ride to Kumasi instead of a short flight, not only because I did not want to deal with the airport coronavirus circus, but I also wanted to see a bit of the landscape. During this trip, my eyes were constantly attached to the window, looking out towards the changing towns, changing environment, changing people, and more. In high-traffic areas when the bus was at a standstill, women selling snacks and refreshing drinks (that they carry on their head) would walk in between cars to sell to the drivers and passengers. At a rest stop, some incredible music was streamed from a loud system, welcoming anyone who needed a stretch and a bit of fresh air. I marveled at the depth of redness of the earth here in Ghana, and couldn’t help but think that the red-yellow-green color system of the Ghanaian flag represented earth-sun-grass. (This is actually not true; the red symbolizes the blood of those who died for Ghanaian independence, the yellow is actually GOLD and it represents the natural mineral wealth of Ghana, and the green represents the rich forests in the country. The black star in the middle represents African freedom in general.) 

Video: At pIAR in Kumasi
 
When I arrived at the Oduom stop, I was taken to the residency by Wadak Smash and Martin Toloku (who is also an incredible performance artist). The reception upon entering the gates was indescribable. It was subtle, but powerful – full of understanding and expectation, but also acknowledgement and affirmation of an energy that has existed far before we could fathom or witness. Martin and crazinisT artisT showed me around the facilities, introduced me to people, gave me some water, and then gave me time to settle. That night, as I remain ready to give presentations and offered to give one on my official arrival day, I talked about my music and artistic practice to the residents and staff in the courtyard, with a PowerPoint presentation that was projected upon a giant wall. The weather was perfect, the environment was open, the discussion became intense and necessary … and it’s all captured on Instagram (for those willing to see)! Follow @perfocraze_international for incredible content from this residency, and to watch my presentation specifically, scroll down to the video post from July 6th. 

​It must be stated that I can never write exactly all the emotions that I felt at the end of my second day in Accra. I can attempt to share with you some of this rollercoaster, but it goes much deeper than what I can ever express in words. I woke up without a plan. I knew I wanted to see a colonial fort – one of the structures that was used to send Africans to the Americas. As I live in the Netherlands, I wanted to see Ft. Amsterdam, but figuring out how to travel that far as a foreigner proved to be impossible. After scanning Google Maps, James Fort in the Jamestown area of Accra stood out, as my birthplace is in Virginia. Google Maps estimated a walk to Jamestown to be a bit more than an hour. Perfect – part one of my day done!


As I walked south from Accra center to Jamestown, I couldn’t help but stop and take in the sites, the sounds, the smells, the interactions, the new environment. Chatting with Monthati Masebe in the morning, she suggested I take some field recordings of my walk – sadly I did not, and I do regret not heeding her advice. There was new music, new laughter, new languages, a different type of English, new shouting, and the car horns … Bostonians, you think your city has too much beeping? You have NOT been to Ghana!!!! The beeping is a COMPLETELY different system, and it is quite difficult to adjust to it. After walking through an area that felt like I was intruding upon a rather intimate community, I found the lighthouse and the fort. A lovely man offered to give me a tour, and even though I knew by now that the price was not something officially set and I probably would have to give a random amount at the end, I couldn’t turn down a chance to learn something about this place from a local.


The tour guide took me to some colonial buildings and community centers where traditional religious practices are still observed, including drum playing and pouring libations. His explanations of the colonial practices felt like needles that, when you think they’d come out, were mercilessly inserted deeper. We circled back around to the fort, where the guide called his mate to fetch the key and open the structure. This particular fort, after it was declassified as a slave-holding facility, was then turned into a prison, where Ghana’s first prime minister – Kwase Nkrumah – was held as a revolutionary prisoner. The tour guide showed me the area where Africans were chained; the slots where chains were attached are still present. He showed me the small cells where Africans were stuffed. He explained that in one room, up to 70 people were forced inside, yet the room could hardly hold 20 people comfortably. He showed me Kwase Nkrumah’s cell, pointed out the lack of windows, the earth as the ground, and the small hole where the British would drop a bit of food from time to time. Then he pointed out a plaque that the British had built to celebrate one of their greatest collaborators in the Transatlantic Trade: Joseph Davis from Boston.

​Holding back the utter shock and disbelief, the tour guide continued by showing me the “point of no return”, and explaining some technical aspects of how the system worked, which I cannot get into here. In sum, it made me further examine the relationship many Black people have with large bodies of water – a discomfort that I still have. We left the fort, and continued throughout Jamestown, where he showed me more colonial buildings, but then had an honest conversation with me about identity, pride, education, and the future. He then introduced me to some of his friends, explained that he was also a musician, showed me the market area with hundreds of goats and cows and chickens and sundry, and we concluded our tour there. I gave him as much GH₵ as I could, said goodbye, and tried to process what I experienced.


I started walking and I had to just stop, gather myself, and move on. After a quick re-orientation courtesy of GPS, I noticed if I continued east, I would walk past some of Accra’s most iconic areas: the Nkrumah Mausoleum, Black Star Square and Independence Arch, a castle, and then end up at the beach. I followed this path, took many pictures along the way, saw so many more things, helped some locals with very small tasks, climbed the Independence Arch, and noticed the resilience that keeps this country going. While the castle area didn’t really read to my Euro-American western mind as a castle, the area was by a very small plot that had some ostriches and pheasants (so cute), which welcomed me before I made it to the beach. It was here that contemplated even more my relationship with water, how the very water I was looking at is related to my birth in the United States, and what it all means to be living in Europe and back in the motherland as a tourist. Can I really be a tourist here?

 
I decided to walk back to my hotel, and found an unexpectedly lovely path which took me past a military cemetery, an ambulance that said Krankenwagen (many Germans have missions in Ghana, and it is apparently common to see German in public spaces), and a long road with many images and explanations of traditions in this complicated country. There was text about Ashanti tradition, the symbolism of umbrellas, the newly built Catholic church (an impressive feat of architecture), even a bit about colonial music. On this cleansing (and unnecessarily complicated) walk back, I finally began to shift my focus on identity, tradition, community, and history, regaining my excitement to begin this 3-week long journey in a new country, on a new continent, within a new frame of mind. It was then that finally felt the akwaba (welcome) which Ghana had given me upon arrival. 

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by Anthony R. Green 

Greetings BIBA fans! Apologies for the brief radio silence. I am writing to you from an artist residency in Kumasi, Ghana, and this past week has filled me with quite a bit of magic, emotions, and intensity. The following BIBA blogs will briefly touch on my experiences here in Ghana, but just know that what I will present here will only scratch the surface of all that has actually happened during my trip! While I wish I could share everything with all of you, I’m not sure if the internet even has enough space for that! HA!!! At any rate, this blog will focus on arriving to Accra. 

The direct flight from Amsterdam to Accra was smooth and surprisingly enriching. I was sitting next to a Black woman from the US whose husband is Ghanaian. She explained to me that after her first trip to Ghana, she never wanted to leave, and she has been back every year. She also reports that many Black US citizens feel the same way (and now I totally understand why!). I watched two incredibly powerful Black movies: “Judas and the Black Messiah” directed by Shaka King, and “Waves” by Trey Edward Shults. While Shults is not Black, the movie boasted Black lead roles in a drama that touched heavily upon Blackness (similarly to “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”). After landing, there is a series of lines in which one must stand in order to receive a coronavirus test and the proper passport and visa controls. While waiting in these lines, I heard stories from other people about this particular trip. One Black young man from Canada was coming to visit extended family he has never met before. Another young Black couple from the United States was coming visit friends and experience the country again. There were Black Dutch families coming, Ghanaians living abroad coming to visit family and friends, and more. It was beautiful to hear such stories in passing, and to be immersed in Blackness in a way I had never experienced. 

The nighttime taxi ride to my hotel was such magic. It was about 9PM when I left the airport. I saw TroTros (vans filled with passengers that are the cheapest form of public transportation), vendors selling goods, friends dancing and smiling, palm trees, street food … the driver showed me some fantastic architecture, and pointed to the Dutch embassy when we passed it along the way. After a small hiccup with Google maps, we arrived to the hotel, and I checked in, relaxed, and prepared myself for an exciting adventure in Ghana. I was also looking forward to trying pawpaw for the first time at breakfast the next day! ​
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