Yesterday evening I went to two delicious events (the other one  I’ll elaborate on in my next post *suspense!*).

The evening started at Passions Bar in Osu, where an event called Art and Politics was hosted by Mantse Aryeequaye, a Ghanaian film director focused presently on music videos and Sionne Neely, academic from University of Southern California.

The evening went from definitions of “art” and “politics” to how they are connected through discussions on beauty, colonialism and mis-education. We discussed if art is the mother of politics or if the relation was more complex…We also saw some music videos like Kanye West’s Power (Ego or Excellent?), M.I.A.’s Born Free (utterly disturbing or a reflection of life?) and a new video by Mantse himself for Kwau Kese – so fresh I cannot find it online – (escapism or bloody reality?). The videos were interesting, especially from a teaching perspective, but the discussion could have gone on for hours without them. There is so much to say about art and politics. Especially in Ghana.

The audience/contributors was amazing and diverse, some famous faces present were Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Ato Kawmina Dadzie, Osabutey Anny,  Kobby Graham (the latter wrote a post on the Art and Politics event here) and many others!

Thanks to the organizers for a unusual and thought-provoking event!