“I Miss You Dada” by Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng. Presented in Taylor Hall Gallery from Nov 4-Dec 4. The inspiration for this piece came about from Asiedu-Kwarteng’s return back to Ghana to visit his family. He came back roughly 20 months after leaving to come the U.S. and felt like a stranger to even his family. It took him almost 2 months to feel like he fit back in and even then, he didn’t feel 100% normal. He felt that even in his birth country he was a stranger and, on his return back to the US, he also felt like he didn’t quite fit in fully there either. This piece speaks to the dual identity when one becomes part of the diaspora. Even when you return home, there will always be things that make you feel like a stranger, and it will take much time before you feel like you belong again. 
“Ruffled Feathers,” by Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng, 2021. Made from acrylic on canvas, Jute rope, Wood, and stoneware; presented in Taylor Hall Gallery from Nov 4-Dec 4. 
“Overwhelmed,” by Eugene Ofori Agyei, 2021. Made from stoneware, fabric, and yarns and was presented in Taylor Hall Gallery from Nov 4-Dec 4. He used green, yellow and black yarn to represent Ghanian culture and red, blue and white colors to represent American culture. He braided the pieces together to signify the combination of the two cultures and had them pass through a piece in the middle used to represent him. He used this piece to show how these new cultures are coming together and passing through him, which can be overwhelming. 
“Picking up the Pieces Together” by Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng and presented in Taylor Hall from Nov 4-Dec 4, represents the feeling of traveling away from home. 
Traditional African dining set created from ceramics, made by Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng. This piece speaks to the separation of Asiedu-Kwarteng from his family in Ghana. He used the idea of the traditional dining set in the Acains. The father’s table is set aside while the mother and the children are eating on the ground. The mother and the children are always eating without the father because the fathers’ responsibilities take him away. He uses this to express how his responsibilities and fending for his family has taken him away from home and from his wife and children. This piece represents the separation of Asiedu-Kwarteng from his family. 
“Fountain,” by Emmanuel Manu Opoku, 2020. Made from shower heads, showers pipes, fan, and a wooden chair. Presented in Tayor Hall Gallery from Nov 4-Dec 4.
Click on an image to view the gallery.
BY
Staff Reporter
On Nov. 4 the exhibit “The Medium is the Message — The African Diaspora Story,” curated by Michael Dela Dika, opened its doors for its grand opening at Taylor Hall Gallery. The opening night showcased sculptures, paintings and photographs from various artists in conjunction with African foods. The event served jollof rice with tomato sauce and chicken, waakye with couscous, fried plantain and coleslaw with spicy sauce.
Dika, who came to the U.S. from Ghana in 2019, is a second year graduate student at the University of Delaware pursuing a master’s in fine arts. After coming to the U.S. he began to look into the ways in which other immigrants from Africa were able to express their feelings through their artwork.
“I was trying to figure out how other artists from Ghana or Africa are able to communicate their feelings and to be themselves in an environment that feels very different,” Dika said. “I started thinking about and reaching out to artists from the diaspora and interviewing them about how they communicate through their work in their new environment.”
Dika received a grant from the University of Delaware and traveled across the country looking for artists to be a part of his exhibit. The final group consisted of Eugene Ofori Agyei, Eric André, Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng, Rita Mawuena Benissan, Dufie Kufuor, Emmanuel Manu Opoku and Yaw Owusu. Each artist brought a unique perspective from the diaspora and showcased different types of art in the exhibit, all using different media, from clay to fabric to paint.
The creation process for the exhibit was not easy. It required months of planning and hours of setup, including the time it took for each artist to drive their pieces to Delaware and the time it took to install each piece. Artists traveled from locations such as Florida and Illinois, which took over 10 hours of driving in order to make sure their pieces arrived safely. However, regardless of how much time the artists had to put in, they found participating in the exhibit’s creation meaningful and worthwhile.
“As an African in the U.S. … I felt great seeing different people from different backgrounds interacting with my work,” Agyei, second year MFA graduate student at the University of Florida, said. “It also made me feel special because I realized that people from Delaware or from the university really appreciate people and accept different aspects of who you are as an artist.”
Agyei uses his art to express his feelings. He finds comfort in using clay as the main medium to communicate his emotions. One example is the use of clay and string in a featured piece called “Overwhelmed.” He uses this piece to signify the ways that new cultures can be challenging as they merge together with old ones.
Dika and the other artists believe that the expression of culture through art is an effective way to bring people together to help them share different experiences in a way that words alone often can not facilitate.
“I’m speaking to my experiences without my family here and being away from home,” Asiedu-Kwarteng, first year graduate MFA student at Illinois State University, said. “There are a lot of things that happen to people in their lives, but how often do you hear about those experiences? I feel like the more you’re able to talk about those experiences, the more you can get away with the pain of those experiences.”
Agyei maintains a website at https://eugeneagyeiarts.com/ where all his works can be viewed. Asiedu-Kwarteng maintains a website at https://jtakwarteng.wixsite.com/ceramicsart where his work can also be found.
Although the exhibit has ended at the University of Delaware, it will be traveling to Pennsylvania for another showing in January. The exhibit will reopen Jan. 7 and be on view until the end of February at the Grizzly Grizzly art gallery in Philadelphia.
“The main goal is to be able to give people an intimate experience into the African diaspora and open a gateway to more diversity, which is often missing or not seen enough,” Dika said.
Dika hopes that the exhibition will be able to travel even further if he is able to get enough funding. Dika’s exhibit and the artists showcased in them can be supported through word of mouth, donations and attendance of events.
“The most important thing for me is to be able to get the exposure for the exhibition because I feel like there is a lot that people need to know about different perspectives from people from Africa,” Dika said. “I think it brought in the dialogue of cultural identity and how people identify themselves in the U.S., and we had a very educated discourse about identity.”
Beautiful Exhibtion !!!!