Godfried Donkor: The First Day of the Yam Custom – 1817

Following a four month residency in Ghana, Gallery 1957 presents a solo exhibition with new works by Godfried Donkor. The exhibition titled The First Day of the Yam Custom: 1817 is curated by Koyo Kouoh and opens with a reception on Saturday 19 August, 7.30pm – late.

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.

Using installation, painting and collage on board, Donkor’s exhibition will reinterpret this scene on a life-size scale.

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Artist Talk: Godfried Donkor in Conversation with Koyo Kouoh
Friday 27 October 2017, 6pm Gallery 2, Galleria Mall

RSVP: peter@gallery1957.com

@ Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City PMB 66 — Ministries
Gamel Abdul Nasser Avenue Ridge — Accra, Ghana

www.gallery1957.com