RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Expanding the Canon
JF Ghana Studies
JO Gha Stu
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 87
OP 107
DO 10.3368/gs.25.1.87
VO 25
IS 1
A1 Nii Otokunor Quarcoopome
YR 2023
UL https://gs.uwpress.org/gs.uwpress.org/content/25/1/87.abstract
AB This article explores the last six decades of visual art studies in Ghana. It focuses primarily on historic indigenous art genres. For strategic reasons, and because of space constraints, it excludes contemporary idioms like studio-based painting and sculpture as well as videography, photography, and performance art. The essay reviews the historical and recent scholarship dealing with traditional Ghanaian art, highlighting the most relevant research and the significant gaps in knowledge. The exploration concludes with a list of the challenges facing the field, among them the striking unevenness in the representation of the ethnic groups that comprise the nation, the predominance of Akan art studies, and the need to refine the methodologies deployed for studying the arts of Ghana. It also advocates for a paradigm shift that broadens the existing canon and encourages interdisciplinary scholarly collaboration and cross-ethnic comparative studies to achieve a more complete art history of Ghana.