#firstdayoftheyamcustom

‪"The First Day of the Yam Custom" by @godfrieddonkor ‪Godfried Donkor brings back home one of the very first visual accounts of an important gathering of the Ashanti Kingdom in 1817 by Thomas Edward Bodwich, who is believed to be the conductor of the first Bristled mission to Kumasi (1791 - 1824). When the image of Bodwich's account of what happened during the meeting was created, it was circulated abroad but less was known of it in Africa. So the narrative that was visualized was one that only fit the version of the British mission. In this work, @godfrieddonkor reimagines the narrative by recreating the picture during a residency with @gallery1957 . Curator of the exhibition Koyo Kouoh says "illustrations and drawings of such engagements are containers of culture," and so questions like "What do these accounts imply for the interpretations of African realities and how we regard images of Africa more broadly?" become very important with the regards that these images were widely circulated outside of the continent. .‬ Godfried Donkor will be conversing with curator Koyo Kouoh at @gallery1957 on October 27, 2017. ‪.‬ ‪📷: Nana Osei - 2017‬ ‪.‬ ‪.‬ ‪#gallery1957 #accra #ghana #africa #art #history #illustration #ashanti #bodwich #british #art #reimagine #contemporaryart #firstdayoftheyamcustom #artist #godfrieddonkor #artphotography #everyafrica #artnewsafrica #accrawedey #exhibition‬

"The First Day of the Yam Festival" by @godfrieddonkor Godfried Donkor brings back home one of the very first visual accounts of an important gathering of the Ashanti Kingdom in 1817 by Thomas Edward Bodwich, who is believed to be the conductor of the first Bristled mission to Kumasi (1791 - 1824). When the image of Bodwich's account of what happened during the meeting was created, it was circulated abroad but less was known of it in Africa. So the narrative that was visualized was one that only fit the version of the British mission. In this work, @godfrieddonkor reimagines the narrative by recreating the picture during a residency with @gallery1957 . Curator of the exhibition Koyo Kouoh says "illustrations and drawings of such engagements are containers of culture," and so questions like "What do these accounts imply for the interpretations of African realities and how we regard images of Africa more broadly?" become very important with the regards that these images were widely circulated outside of the continent. . . 📷: Nana Osei - 2017 . . #gallery1957 #accra #ghana #africa #art #history #illustration #ashanti #bodwich #british #art #reimagine #contemporaryart #firstdayoftheyamcustom #artist #godfrieddonkor #artphotography #everyafrica #artnewsafrica #accrawedey #exhibition (at Gallery 1957)

"The First Day of the Yam Custom" by @godfrieddonkor at @gallery1957 . Godfried Donkor’s new body of work reimagines an illustration by the 19th century English explorer Thomas Bowdich, now held in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London and thought to be the first recorded image of the visual aesthetic and culture of the Asante region of Ghana. Created in 1818,The First Day of the Yam Custom depicts a procession from the annual Asante yam festival in Kumasi, an event held to mark the first harvest of yams during the autumn season. Sent to West Africa by the Royal African Company – a British commerce corporation – Bowdich was employed to negotiate a treaty with the king of the Asante region: Osei Bonsu. Bowdich’s image, and verbal description of the 1817 procession, was documented in his resulting publication, Mission From Cape Coast Castle to Asantee. . . 📷: Nana Osei - 2017 . . #gallery1957 #Accra #Ghana #Africa #art #firstdayoftheyamcustom #godfrieddonkor #painting #history #asante #british #goldenstool #asantehene #oseibonsu #thomasbowdich #illustration #trade #documentation #streetstyle #artphotography #exhibition (at Gallery 1957)