Residencies

(b. 1997 Nima, Ghana. Lives and works in Accra, Ghana)

Awanle Ayiboro Hawa Ali, a Ghanaian visual artist delves into the realities faced by Africanwomen living within a patriarchal society. Having grown up in a strict Muslim household as the eldest daughter, Hawa experienced the weight of societal expectations and the pressureto conform to traditional norms.

Despite initial resistance, her exposure to the visual art domain and the guidance of supportive mentors ignited her latent passion, empowering her to break free from imposed expectations. Hawa's artistic exploration is deeply rooted in the intricate tapestry of her environment, serving as an anthem of liberation that portrays women adorned in suits. Dedicated to extensive research, experiments, and ceaseless artistic exploration, she navigates the delicate balance between tradition and liberation within the sacred intimacy and complexities of home.

(b.1992, Ghana. Lives and works in Accra, Ghana)

Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah (b. 1992) is a Ghanaian artist living and working in Ghana. She creates hand drawings of her intricate monochrome patterns on various surfaces such as paper, canvas, etc. to explore the relationship between repetitive actions andtheir impact on the mind and the body. Her initial process of hand drawings with black markers has evolved into cutting out these patterns from black synthetic leathers into creating something that seems sculptural.

Arde-Acquah’s works have shown in group exhibitions “The gown must go to Town” (2015) “Cornfieldsin Accra” (2016) and “Orderly disorderly” (2017) all organized by blaxTARLINES, Kumasi. Together with Kathleen Bomani, Lebohang Kganye, Sheila Natiende and a few others, she partook in a performative group installation in 2017 titled Nathi. Aha. Sasa curated by a German-Ghanaian artist/curator Zohra Opoku in Wiener Festwochen, Vienna-Austria. In 2009, she performed in“Palimpsest” an all-female, multidisciplinary group exhibition at Gallery 1957, Accra–Ghana.