SPIRITS AND FOLKLORE OF GHANA

by Laurel True

I am so excited and proud that the mixed media mosaic mural, "Spirits and Folklore of Ghana" has received the honor of being awarded "Best Mural" 2004 in the International Category by Precita Eyes Mural Center in San Francisco, CA. "Spirits and Folklore of Ghana" is the third in a series of five large-scale community mosaic projects that I have facilitated over the past four summers in Ghana, West Africa. All projects have been in partnership with the non-profit Cross Cultural Collaborative, Inc. and sited at Aba House Cultural Center, located in the seaside village of Nungua, near the capitol of Ghana. In the summer of 2004, more than 30 community members, ages 4 to 65 participated in three mosaic mural projects. Spirits and Folklore of Ghana was created during a "Community Mosaic Mural Making" workshop that I facilitated at Aba House. Lillian Sizemore, my colleague, frequent collaborator and good friend came over to take part, as did a former student and now dear friend, Anna Webb from Boise, Idaho. Both lent their excellent energy, expertise and creative vision to the piece as well as a team of dedicated Ghanaian mosaic enthusiasts and local youth.

CCC, Inc. led a tour of Ghanaian craft villages and historic sites in conjunction with the workshop. Community members of all ages from Nungua were happy to return to mosaics this summer. Many of the young people have been working with me for years and are experts at breaking, nipping and setting tesserae and they were anxiously waiting to begin the next project. Elizabeth Dzeklov, my student and friend in Ghana said " We are so happy about doing mosaic. We just want to take part!" At the beginning of my two-month stay in Ghana last summer, I collected stories and folklore from local residents and translated these into the mural design that was to be entitled Spirits and Folklore of Ghana. These designs were then approved by the storytellers.

Depicted in the mural are Mami Wata, the mermaid/fertility spirit of the Ocean; the three-headed Spirit of the River Densu; Christian churches; the 99 spirits of Nungua; Anansi the spider, and Numo Borketey Lawe, the famous warrior of Nungua with detailed elements of his story such as his footprint enshrined on the rocks, a fish with a message, and a sacrificial cow. Local cement artist, James Ahiave, added concrete relief to the concrete block wall we used as a base for the mural, adding a very cool dimensional effect. Later James led a small workshop for the American contingent in concrete relief. Hopefully I can get him over to California and Institute of Mosaic Art/ True Mosaics Studio to teach this technique. As James says about future collaborations, "Let's rock the world!"

A usual for projects in Ghana, we packed brightly colored tile from the States as well as tools. The manager at Aba House, Talk True keeps all the tools during the year and sees to it that the leftover materials are intact upon my return. Talk True has taken part in all the mosaic projects and is a master at setting mosaic. He is also my guide in the open marketplaces where we go to buy additional tile, thin-set (called tile cement there) and grout (filler) and anything else under the sun. The kids gather shells and pebbles from the ocean and we include locally made fused glass tesserea made from recycled bottles. The team goes about processing materials for the mural in the usual way, breaking down ceramic tile using goggles, leather- palmed gloves and a tack hammer and nipping with tile and rotary nippers. We share tools and responsibilities get delegated. It is super to see the older kids showing the younger ones how to mix thin-set to the proper consistency. A small group of us transferred the design for "Spirits and Folklore" onto the wall with chalk using a simple grid transfer and we set the mosaic in layers, building up from the design layer. We completed the 22 ' x 6.5' "Spirits" in eight days, including grouting! Everyone was so excited about the finished mural, all shiney with bits of mirror and tile and textured with stones and relief. The mural now serves not only as a symbol of cultural identity, but also an educational tool for local youth. As Ben Adipah of the Ghana Ministry of Education said, " You should all be proud of a job well done, congratulations".

Laurel True travels to Ghana most summers to facilitate community mosaic projects, collaborate with local artists and lecture/ teach about mosaic art. All projects are self- funded with some materials donations. Thanks to McIntyre Tile, Tina Ayres of Tile Seconds and Mosaic Supply and CCC, Inc. for their tax- deductible donations. For more information, please visit www.CulturalCollaborative.org.

Mosaic projects facilitated by Laurel True at Aba House include:

2001 "Ogue Be" (Good Harvest) - The History of Nungua - a 22 ' x 6.5' mosaic mural depicting life and historical scenes as told by the Linguist of the Chief of Nungua
2002 "Creativity Archway" - a 12' high mosaic double archway inscribed with words and phrases.
2004 "Spirits and Folklore of Ghana" - a 22' x 6.5' mosaic mural with concrete relief depicting local myth, folklore, traditional spirits and their stories
"Nya Obuo Ma Asase" (Respect the Earth) - a 16 ' x 6.5' mosaic mural with giant flowers in relief
"Adinkra Hene" - a 14' x 6.5' mural depicting symbols found on local textiles which refer to proverbial messages.
Last summer a group of young boys who have been working on the mosaics over the years designed, set and grouted their own mosaic mural entitled "Respect All Nations" Yay!!!