Movin' Right Along: Art IST

I was thankfully invited to workshop portion of the Art Teachers Inter-Service Training. This was by far one of the most productive and inspiring Peace Corps training attempts I have endured thus far. A group of no more than 10 of us, were taken on daily field trips to learn about traditional Ghanaian arts. The three workshops were in ceramics, wood carving, and bead making. Each one afforded us the opportunity to see profoundly undervalued craftsman who have dedicated themselves to a life artistic creation.

First Stop: Afari Village outside of Kumasi. We visited the Afari woman’s Pottery Co-op where a group of about 8 woman showed us the process by which they create ceramic pots and grinding bowls for sale throughout Ghana. Although the previous government in power brought several pottery wheels for the women to use, they failed to supply adequate training so the women rely on a traditional method of hand sculpting pots. They are so good at what they do, it is virtually impossible to tell that the pots and bowls they sculpt were not thrown on a pottery wheel.

The shape is perfect without the use of mechanization

They add a thin layer of red clay for their signature look

The woman make over 50 pots and bowls every day

Next Stop: The Foase Wood Carvers. Again Foase is a village right outside of Kumasi which several master carvers call home. We learned about the various types of local highly carveable woods and were able to watch the masters at work. The strength and precision required for this craft is a lot to wrap your mind around. Their work is generally sold to the Kumasi cultural center for resale and someone also mentioned J.C. Penny’s getting a lot of its African decorative art from Ghana, I am assuming the carvers in Foase may have something to do with that.

A master carver sketching out his plans for a mask. He explained that most of the time they don't sketch, they simply see the face come out of the wood as they carve. They are Truly masters.

A few love/fertility idols carved during the 2 hours we were visiting. The carvers are extremely productive.

Last Stop: Bead Making village. Although, the actual bead making process seemed a little mundane to me, in that the skills required to make aesthetically pleasing beads were well within my reach, the village itself was fascinating. As we walked through the village if you looked down you could see hundreds of broken beads and bead making molds that had been swallowed by the Earth. Each of the mud houses had beads sculpted into its clay bricks, not by choice but by circumstance. Every inch of dirt in this entire village was somehow an archaeological tribute to the bead making craft.

We had the opportunity to make some of our own beads: