Nkyinkim Installation by Kwame Akoto Bamfo at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo (born 1983) is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator and activist, known for his sculptures and massive body of works dedicated to the memory, healing and Restorative Justice for people of African descent. His outdoor sculptures are dedicated to the memory of the victims of the

Transatlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

, notably the installation Nkyinkim, on display at the

National Memorial for Peace and Justice The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Memorial, is a national memorial to commemorate the black victims of lynching in the United States. It is intended to focus on and acknowledge past racial ter ...

that opened in 2018 in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

. His other sculptures include an installation of 1,200 concrete heads representing Ghana's enslaved ancestors in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, the capital of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Called ''Faux-Reedom'', it was unveiled in 2017.

Early life and education

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo grew up in

and the Eastern Region of Ghana, where he and his sister were raised by a single mother and grandmother. Learning a lot of traditional Ghanaian culture and values as well as African philosophy from village life with his grandmother, he later attended schools in Ghana's capital Accra before attending

Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School , country = Ghana , region = Greater-Accra , location = Legon , coordinates = , type = Public high school , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church ...

. Upon graduating, he trained at the College of Arts

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

where he graduated with first-class honours and then later attained his master's degree from the same university. He worked as a lecturer and acting Head of Graphic Design Department for four years, leaving in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time artist and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...

Exhibitions

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo's first major exhibition was during the 60th

Independence Day (Ghana) The Independence Day of Ghana is a national holiday celebrated yearly. This day is an official state holiday for the citizens of Ghana both within and in the diaspora to honour and celebrate the Heroes of Ghana who led the country to attain its ...

Celebration when he outdoored Nkyinkyim Installation sculptures of over 1,200 concrete portrait heads of people of African descent at the

Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and memorial park is located in downtown Accra, the capital of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlanti ...

in an exhibition dubbed ‘Faux-Reedom’. Kwame used the strong imagery of life-size sculpted heads to question Ghana's independence and draw international attention to Ghana's

neo-colonial Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, gl ...

legacies. Kwame's work toes a fine line between

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

and

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

. His works reference colonial legacies,

racial justice Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

racial equity Social equity is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy. Since the 1960s, the concept of social equity has been used in a variety of institutional contexts, including education and public administration. Overview Definitions of so ...

, healing and restorative justice. Kwame's travelling exhibition Blank Slate Palimpsest Monument, also known as the Blank Slate Monument was unveiled in Ghana in 2019 and toured the United States, visiting notable places of historic significance to the 'African American Experience' such as Selma, Harlem and New York City's Times Square, where the monument was unveiled during the sentencing of

Derek Chauvin Derek Michael Chauvin ( ; born March 19, 1976) is an American former police officer who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin was a member of the Minneapolis Police ...

for the murder of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...

. Other notable stops include Louisville Kentucky, Detroit's

Motown Museum "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was pur ...

, Chicago's DuSable Museum and The King Center in Atlanta.

Nkyinkyim Installation

The Nkyinkyim Installation is an evolving installation, created to archive African history and African heritage, and has an extensive section dedicated to enslaved Africans. This globally acclaimed installation extends the impact of The

; the Nkyinkyim Installation and Legacy Museum; Nkyinkyim Installation; Dirge Across time/Melancholic lullabies.

Other activities

Public speaking

Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is regularly engaged in public speaking, research, and lectures largely due to his work as a sculptor, archiving and promoting African history and cultural heritage at Nkyinkyim Museum.

Film and television

*The Art of Healing (2022 documentary, in post-production, Executive Producer and Co-writer) * Enslaved (2020 miniseries)
The Lost Ancestors

Awards

* GUBA Influential artist of the Year 2019
Kuenyehia Prize for Contemporary Artist
(Inaugural Winner)

References

External links

*
BiographyBuilding Restorative Justice Across the African Diaspora
* ttps://stoa169.com/en/stoa/kwame-akoto-bamfo/ Kwame Akoto-Bamfo - STOA169br>Artist - Blank Slate MonumentThis traveling sculpture challenges the story Confederate statues tell (nbcnews.com)EJI Releases Video on Sculpture About EnslavementPeople&Places: A look into one of Ghana's biggest museums making waves internationally - Nkyinkyim (ghanaweb.com)Ancestor Project Gh – Ancestor Project GhExploration of the influences that shapes the art and activism.David J. Maloney's part one of an interview with Kwame Koto-Bamfo on his influences in representational art dealing with restorative justice and the African diasporaPart 2 of the interview with David J. Maloney, discussing the spiritual and contextual aspects of the Nkyinkyim Installation in Montgomery Alabama, and the touring installation of The Blank Slate Monument.

Academic talks/lectures

Mondays at Beinecke: Building Restorative Justice Across the African Diaspora with Kwame Akoto-Bamfo , Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (yale.edu)The Year of Return & Beyond: Reclaiming African History and Ancestry through the Nkyinkyim Installation , Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (yale.edu)KABE explains Ancestor Project at University of Ghana, Legon - YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akoto-Bamfo, Kwame 1983 births Living people 21st-century Ghanaian sculptors Ghanaian male artists Male sculptors