May 5-6, 2023 [Friday 10am-3pm, Saturday 10am-2pm] @ FCA-Ghana Project Space and Library @ W.E.B DuBois Center 1st Circular Cantonment Accra
The Foundation for Contemporary Art – Ghana and Fihankra Review are pleased to announce a two-day workshop on ‘Research for Arts practice’. Writers, visual artists, photographers, musicians, and curators are invited to participate. The workshop will be facilitated by Ebony Coletu, senior researcher at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Ghana-Legon.
In this workshop, we approach research as a way to act on questions. When questions arise, what can you do? Together, we will map varied sources of information and research itineraries particular to Ghana. That is, pathways for action in this environment that yields information while also staging critical conversations about the fragility of knowing. How can you know what has happened in the past? What is the quality of the source that supports your claim? How do sources interact? Why do interpretations change over time? Over two days you will learn multiple ways to cultivate inquiry and build interpretations to support your art practice.
Since writing is a means to record and refine your research, we will approach writing as an important adjunct to art practice. Using writing experiments as prompts, participants will explore the dynamic features of writing that can transform notes into questions and concepts over time. By the end of the workshop, you will be able to develop unique research itineraries in response to objects, images, practices, places, and memories. You can witness how your research skills change when you become aware of possibilities for knowing more, what challenges knowing more, and what you are able to do with fragmented information. Participants will be introduced to online sources and options for access as well as community-based sources and ways to learn from landscapes. If you are interested in research-informed art practice, please bring your current questions and projects to the workshop for discussion.
How to apply:
Send biography (not more than 500 words)
Portfolio [samples of your practice as reflected in the bio]
Please answer the following questions (300-500 words): –
- What do you hope to learn from this workshop?
- How might research skills enrich your current practice (whether as a writer, artist, curator, etc)?
Attach all files as PDF file, max. 10 MB
Email application to projects@fcaghana.org or call 0592399923 for more information.
Deadline for submission of applications: April 25, 2023
Notifications will be sent on April 28, 2023 [Registration Fee of GHS50 must be paid at this time]
We look forward to exploring research-informed art practice with you.
About Facilitator:
Ebony Coletu, Ph.D. is a senior researcher at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Ghana-Legon. She has taught at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (New York), The American University in Cairo, and Pennsylvania State University, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana investigating African-led back-to-Africa movements in 2021.