Re-Painting the Red
Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins || [ CURATORIAL STATEMENT ] use compass to view walls
Re-Painting the Red
Charlie Michaels Rex Akinruntan Kwadwo Asare Apori Ralitsa Diana Debrah Faisal and his Family owners of the home in Kumasi, Ghana
2009
Charlie Michaels Rex Akinruntan Kwadwo Asare Apori Ralitsa Diana Debrah Faisal and his Family owners of the home in Kumasi, Ghana
2009
Curatorial statement
This is a collaborative project. The artists include:
Charlie Michaels
Rex Akinruntan
Kwadwo Asare Apori
Ralitsa Diana Debrah
Faisal and his Family who own a home in Kumasi, Ghana
Video Documentation by Jack Azor
It is one of the projects that was conceived and created for the Kumasi Symposium in September 2009. A Statement on the project follows:
This project seeks to draw attention to a form of corporate advertising in Ghana.
The practice of branding signifies ownership of the branded object, in this case by a cell phone corporation that chooses to use the walls of homes as cheap advertising. The streetscape of many Ghanaian cities and villages is quickly changing as the number of branded homes grows. Public spaces that once belonged to local communities and families are now being claimed and privatized by the bright, bold, and distracting logos of international corporations. These methods of advertising take advantage of the economic and social status of individuals in Ghanaian communities, as they are commonly given little or nothing in return. Often, only unfulfilled promises of money, mobile phones, and t-shirts are offered in exchange.
After conducting interviews and obtaining permission from the resident of a branded home in Kumasi, the artists painted over the advertisements covering the walls. The home was then stenciled with a series of Adinkra symbols, Ghanaian proverbial symbols that are often seen decorating buildings, fabrics, and vehicles. The arrangement of the Adinkra mimics the design of the corporate logo but subverts it, symbolizing the re-claiming of the home by local culture and the transferring of the space back into the hands of the community.
[ HIDE ]
This is a collaborative project. The artists include:
Charlie Michaels
Rex Akinruntan
Kwadwo Asare Apori
Ralitsa Diana Debrah
Faisal and his Family who own a home in Kumasi, Ghana
Video Documentation by Jack Azor
It is one of the projects that was conceived and created for the Kumasi Symposium in September 2009. A Statement on the project follows:
This project seeks to draw attention to a form of corporate advertising in Ghana.
The practice of branding signifies ownership of the branded object, in this case by a cell phone corporation that chooses to use the walls of homes as cheap advertising. The streetscape of many Ghanaian cities and villages is quickly changing as the number of branded homes grows. Public spaces that once belonged to local communities and families are now being claimed and privatized by the bright, bold, and distracting logos of international corporations. These methods of advertising take advantage of the economic and social status of individuals in Ghanaian communities, as they are commonly given little or nothing in return. Often, only unfulfilled promises of money, mobile phones, and t-shirts are offered in exchange.
After conducting interviews and obtaining permission from the resident of a branded home in Kumasi, the artists painted over the advertisements covering the walls. The home was then stenciled with a series of Adinkra symbols, Ghanaian proverbial symbols that are often seen decorating buildings, fabrics, and vehicles. The arrangement of the Adinkra mimics the design of the corporate logo but subverts it, symbolizing the re-claiming of the home by local culture and the transferring of the space back into the hands of the community.
[ HIDE ]