Commemorative art works on a symbolic journey to Afadzato

Two Iconic art pieces are making a 200-kilometre journey on foot to Afadzato to mark the beginning of a four-day Africa transformational leadership event.

The works are a portrait of Winnie Mandela made by Isaac Ayertey entirely of clothes buttons, and the other a detailed depiction of Afua Nyarkoa, produced with beads by Florence Sottie, a Ghanaian lady from Anomabo, and which was adjudged best entry for the project.

About 60 volunteers, in turns, are conveying the works on foot across the terrain to the Afadzato (Mountain), which is referred to as the Akwapim-Togo mountain, lying along the Ghana-Togo border, and among the highest in Africa.

The journey is being undertaken at night to avoid the dangers of heavy vehicular traffic on the highways.

The two works would be commissioned at the event on December 24, 2020, and last for a week to January 1, 2021, which would be held at the summit of the mountain in the Afadzato South District of the Volta Region.

An exhibition under the Auspices of Art Capital Ghana, which forms part of the programme, would also be held during exhibiting works of other artists would be produced and launched.

Among them is Dr Theophilus Kwesi Mensah, a lecturer at the Department of Fine Arts at University of Education Winneba (UEW).

The Outstanding Leadership Forum (OLF), an established platform on leadership, democracy and development, is organising the excellence forum on the theme, “Decade of Black Woman and black youth of excellence.”

It is in collaboration with the UEW Department of Fine Arts and supported by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.

Over 2,000 youth, women and children would also undertake a 50-kilometre walk from Golokwati to the Mountain, to signify a spiritual journey that would transform and renew the spirit of Africa and black people across the globe.

Dr Godwin Davids, Executive Director of OLF, said the commissioning would be broadcast live by one of the biggest art houses in Africa, called the Art Capital, based in Ghana.