Aperture and Dikan Center Celebrate the Launch of “Accra”
In September, photographers and writers gathered at one of Accra’s leading arts centers to celebrate an issue of the magazine about Ghana.
The launch of Aperture's "Accra" issue at the Dikan Center, Accra, September 15, 2023
Photographs by Marvellous Durowaiye
On September 15, Aperture and the Dikan Center in Accra, Ghana, hosted a panel discussion and celebration for the launch of the Fall 2023 issue “Accra.” Following acclaimed issues centered on Delhi, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and São Paulo, “Accra,” guest edited by the artists Lyle Ashton Harris and Nii Obodai, is an opportunity for audiences around the world to learn more about the Ghanaian capital as a site of dynamic and historically important photographic voices.
The lively gathering featured an insightful discussion between contributing artists and writers, including Kobby Ankomah Graham, Carlos Idun-Tawiah, Lloyd Foster, and Fibi Afloe, and was moderated by Paul Ninson, founder and executive director of Dikan Center, and Anakwa Dwamena, a writer based in Ghana and an Aperture contributor. The evening was a testament to Accra as a catalyst of photographic excellence and the ever-growing presence of Ghana as a beacon for Pan-African thought and political activism.
Ghana has been a nexus of compelling photography since the late nineteenth century, from the output of the hundred-year-old Deo Gratias photo studio to the stylish midcentury visions of James Barnor. Aperture’s “Accra” looks both to the archives that catalog Ghana’s visual past and to the visions of a new generation. Featuring exclusive interviews with Zohra Opoku, whose textile-based works evoke mortality and resilience, and John Akomfrah, the celebrated Ghanaian filmmaker, “Accra” displays artists connecting local visual culture to global conversations, engaging in history, and facing the contemporary moment.
