A group of artists and curators from the Department of Painting and Sculpture of the 糖心Vlog and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi participated in the "Gasthof 2022" at the Hochschule f眉r Bildende K眉nste- St盲delschule in Frankfurt and Documenta 15 in Kassel, respectively. The Documenta exhibition of contemporary art is regarded as the most prestigious in the art world and is held in Kassel, Germany, once every five years. It is听recognised as the world's most significant contemporary art event. Gudskul, who are participating artists, sent a historic invitation to blaxTARLINES to take part in the fifteenth edition of Documenta (2022). Only one other Ghanaian, Ibrahim Mahama, a distinguished artist who graduated from the Department of Painting and Sculpture, took part in this event. The blaxTARLINES鈥 participation in this event stems from the Department鈥檚 longstanding relationship with St盲delschule, yielding in exchange programmes between the two institutions initiated by Willem de Rooij, artist and professor at St盲delschule.
The blaxTARLINES KUMASI - the contemporary art incubator at听the Department of Painting and Sculpture - led by Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, Assistant Research Fellow, represented KNUST in both events from 4th to 16th July 2022.
鈥淕asthof 2022鈥 is a multidisciplinary event that involves several international partners. The one-week programme, led by Prof. Yasmil Raymond (Rector of the St盲delschule and Director of Portikus) and Prof. Haegue Yang (Vice Rector and Professor of Fine Arts) at Hochschule f眉r Bildende K眉nste- St盲delschule, offers a platform for students and young practitioners to exchange and create new networks, meet established artists, scholars, and curators while attending an intensive week of lectures, workshops and many more in Frankfurt, Germany. The programme takes place from 4th -11th July, 2022.
About Kelas Bareng
Kelas Bareng (Joint Class) is an experimental pedagogical project which emerged out of collaborative efforts between the educational institutions Gudskul (Indonesia), St盲delschule (Germany), blaxTARLINES KUMASI (Department of Painting & Sculpture, KNUST, Ghana), and Nordland Kunst- og filmh酶gskole (Norway) in 2020. The joint class has so far been held virtually on Zoom. In each respective institution students and/or facilitators gather 鈥榣ive鈥, if the Covid-19 regulations allow, to be able to exchange with their friends and collaborators overseas. The event is co-organized by Gesyada Siregar (Gudskul), Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh (blaxTARLINES), Philippe Pirotte (St盲delschule) and Knut 脜sdam (Nordland). Previous guests of Kelas Bareng include Hilmar Farid, Nontobeko Ntombela, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Raqs Media Collective), Shubigi Rao, Farah Wardani with Anwar Jimpe, Pius Sigit Kuncoro and Natasha Sidharta, Ericka Flores Hidalgo, Selom Kudjie, Dicky Takndare (Udeido Collective), Commune6X3, and Camille Norment.
Kelas Bareng shifted from its virtual space into the first live sessions held at the Fridericianum Museum in Kassel. Participants from each school gathered to learn together in the spirit of mutual exchanges while producing, sharing, and recording knowledge. In the context of the overarching curatorial framework for documenta fifteen, lumbung - which inheres principles of collaboration, participation, inclusivity, generosity, and humour - Kelas Bareng will function as one of the experimental pedagogic models that serve to deepen the 鈥渢radition of sharing鈥 already at play in the artistic and economic models set in motion at documenta fifteen. The programme will consist of a series of collaborative pedagogical projects and live sessions with access to resources of knowledge from a local and global network with the goal of the long-term sustainability of ideas and economics in contemporary art practices.
Participants include Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh (Assist. Research Fellow), Jeffrey Asharku Otoo, Frederick Ebenezer Okai, Nicholas Ofori, Alhassan Issah, Irene Piloya, Godelive Kabena Kasangati, Kelvin Kwaku Haizel, Elele Bosoka, Sarah Owusu, Jeremiah Quarshie, Ernest Kankam, Samuel Baah Kortey, Rebecca de Marchi, Jeremiah Quarshie and Theresa Ankomah.
